Wireless mostion sensor system and method

ABSTRACT

A wireless motion sensor system comprising a wearable inertial measurement unit, a wireless signal relay unit, and a data analysis server can be used in low power sensing and control applications, such as continuous monitoring and recording of motion and other parameters before, during, and after the occurrence of an unpredictable event. Data from the inertial measurement unit could be analyzed and presented on a graphical presentation unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/573,945 filed 15 Oct. 2012, which is a continuation in partof U.S. Pat. No. 8,325,138 filed 16 Nov. 2009, which is a continuationin part of U.S. Pat. No. 7,683,883 filed 31 Oct. 2005, which claimsbenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/624,335 filed2 Nov. 2004, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to systems and methods that comprise anelectronic motion-sensing instrument configured to wirelesslycommunicate to another electronic device.

It is desired to combine sensors and a transmitter into a small,low-cost, and low power motion-sensing instrument. By adding wirelesstransmission capability to this instrument, it is possible to use theinstrument for a variety of tasks that require a small portable device.For example, the instrument could be worn or held by a person. Thewireless transmission capability can allow a remote electronic receivingdevice to receive data from the instrument on a continuous basis and usethis instrument data for analysis, feedback, and/or control. The examplesystem comprising the instrument and the receiving device could be usedto continuously monitor and record motion and other parameters beforeand after the occurrence of an unpredictable event, so that a completepicture of before, during, and after the event can be analyzed. Datafrom the instrument could be used to trigger an alarm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a 3D input device used in a 3D computer system;

FIG. 2A shows the system of FIG. 1 with the 3D input device in a restingposition and a vectorial cursor pointing at one object in the 3Denvironment;

FIG. 2B shows the system of FIG. 1 with the 3D input device being tiltedalong the roll axis;

FIG. 2C shows the system of FIG. 1 with the 3D input device being tiltedalong the pitch axis;

FIG. 2D shows the system of FIG. 1 with the vectorial cursor movingtoward an object on the 3D display in response to linear input on the 3Dinput device;

FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of the 3D mouse/controller with the knobsand buttons used for interaction with a 3D environment;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the 3D mouse/controller system and theway it interacts with a 3D application on the computer monitor, throughinterrelated modules performing the different functions of: movementsensing, sensing data interpretation and conversion to digital data,wireless communication of the data to an interface, graphical renderingof the data in a 3D application;

FIG. 5 shows a wireless motion sensor system;

FIG. 6 shows an example of a graphical user interface that can be usedas part of the system and method;

FIG. 7 shows a wireless motion sensor system used in American football;

FIG. 8 shows an alternate configuration of the local server that shownas part of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 shows an alternate configuration of the cloud server that shownas part of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 shows a motion sensing method that can be implemented in thewearable peripheral that was shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 shows a motion sensing method that can be implemented in thesensor hub that was shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 12 shows a process that can be used by the beacon of FIG. 5 toperform its role;

FIG. 13 shows a process that can be used by the local server of FIG. 5to perform its role;

FIG. 14 shows a process that can be used by the cloud server of FIG. 5to perform its role;

FIG. 15A shows a generalized Kalman filter;

FIG. 15B shows an extended Kalman filter configured for use in aninertial measurement unit;

FIG. 16 shows a Madgwick filter using magnetometer, accelerometer, andgyroscope inputs (MAGI);

FIG. 17 shows an example of the system being used with animals;

FIG. 18 shows a sensor on a robotic arm;

FIG. 19 shows a wearable system;

FIG. 20 shows a multi-axis remote manipulator that could be controlledby the wearable system of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 shows an unmanned vehicle that could be controlled by thewearable system of FIG. 19;

FIG. 22A shows an unmanned aerial quadcopter;

FIG. 22B shows an unmanned airplane; and

FIG. 22C shows a matrix of sensing components.

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale.In certain instances, details that are not necessary for anunderstanding of the invention or that render other details difficult toperceive may have been omitted. It should be understood that theinvention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodimentsillustrated herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The ensuing description provides preferred exemplary embodiment(s) only,and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configurationof the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the preferredexemplary embodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with anenabling description for implementing a preferred exemplary embodiment.It should be understood that various changes could be made in thefunction and arrangement of elements without departing from the spiritand scope as set forth in the appended claims.

Specific details are given in the following description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments maybe practiced without these specific details. For example, the presentinvention may be implemented using any combination of computerprogramming software, firmware, or hardware. As a preparatory step topracticing the invention or constructing an apparatus according to theinvention, the computer programming code (whether software or firmware)according to the invention can be embedded in one or more machinereadable storage devices such as micro-controllers, programmable logicand programmable analog devices, flash memories, semiconductor memoriessuch as read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM),etc., thereby making an article of manufacture in accordance with theinvention. The article of manufacture containing the computerprogramming code can be used by either executing the code directly fromthe storage device, or by transmitting the code according to the presentinvention with appropriate standard computer hardware to execute thecode contained therein. An apparatus for practicing the invention couldbe one or more devices having network access to computer program(s)coded in accordance with the invention.

1. Overview

One embodiment, the present invention relates to an electronicallynetworked system or method that integrates a wearable instrumentcomprising a plurality of sensors. The sensors can include MEMS (microelectro mechanical systems) devices. The sensors can include transducersthat measure position, motion, acceleration, impact, temperature, heartrate, pulse, and/or breathing activity. Position, motion, acceleration,and/or impact could be measured using any combination of systems andmethods including, but not limited to the global positioning system(GPS), cellular or Wi-Fi triangulation, time-of-travel, magnetics,optics, and/or acceleration technologies. The sensors could bestandalone or structured in a matrix for operational redundancy, maximumavailability, and improved accuracy. Sensors with different functionsand/or technologies could be combined in one solid-state module and thematrix could contain a number of such modules. The instrument can alsocomprise a central processing unit (CPU) comprising a microprocessor,micro-controller, digital signal processor, graphics processing unit,field programmable gate array, application specific integrated circuit,system on a chip, and/or similar microelectronic circuit. The CPU canuse embedded algorithms and/or other firmware code to process the datagenerated by the sensors, manage power consumption, and communicateinternally and externally. The instrument can also comprise atransmitter that can use protocols such as Bluetooth, near fieldcommunications, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, radio-frequency communications, cellularcommunications, satellite communications, and/or any other wirelesscommunications protocol or technology capable of being understood byanyone skilled in the art, to communicate with a device at a remotelocation. The remote device could be a second wearable instrument, aremote control unit, and/or a remote display device such as a portablecomputer, a laptop computer, a telephone, a tablet computer, see-throughglasses, or virtual reality goggles. The system could interface withand/or use an instrument and/or a remote device that uses a standardcomputer operating system such as Unix[™], Linux[™], Microsoft[™]Windows[™], Android[™], iOS[™], and/or MacOS[™].

The system or method could provide the sensor data in a raw format forfurther analysis with spreadsheets or dedicated software. The system ormethod could show the sensor data in a graphical form via auser-friendly graphical user interface (GUI). The sensor data could bestored for real-time or later viewing. The sensor data could also beaggregated in anonymous format on a secure and encrypted databaselocated on a server on the internet (i.e. a “cloud database”). The clouddatabase could aggregate sensor data from different wearableinstruments, located in different geographical areas. The sensor data inthe cloud database could be processed via embedded intelligence andsmart algorithms enabling big data analysis on the aggregated anonymousdata, for the improvement of monitoring and evaluation thresholds andthe generation of personalized risk, fatigue or performance factors.

2. Pointing Device Embodiments

One embodiment of the present embodiment relates to pointing (I/O)devices used to position or manipulate a vectorial object. For example,embodiments could be used to control an object (i.e. controlling objectattributes such as position, orientation, and/or size) on a display fortwo dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) environments. Vectorialobjects can be vectorial cursors, graphical symbols, or any pictorialrepresentation of physical or virtual object or character having one ormultiple dimensions that has both a linear component (such as magnitude[or size], or position in a Cartesian space) and an angular component(such as orientation). In particular, one embodiment of the presentinvention relates to handheld devices that can be used to position ormanipulate a vectorial object such as a vectorial cursor or 3Dobjects/characters in 3D space. A vectorial cursor in 3D is the analogof a cursor in 2D. It is shaped like an arrow giving the user spatialfeedback of the direction and position of the cursor. Depending on theapplication, the length of the arrow could be variable or fixed, wherebythe arrow would be either extending from a spherical (polar) coordinatespoint of reference, or virtually moving in the 3D space. Thus, oneembodiment might be an inertial sensor-based application that operatesas a 3D mouse to provide a natural and ergonomic way to interact with 3Denvironments and to control systems in 3D space. The 3D mouse could actas a spatial pointer input device and/or controller to reach and/ormanipulate objects, icons, and/or characters in 3D environments. The 3Denvironments could be generated by 3D graphical rendering or 3D GUIswith 2D monitors, volumetric monitors, stereoscopic monitors,holographic monitors, and/or any other 2D or 3D monitor capable of beingunderstood by anyone skilled in the art.

Such an embodiment of the present invention can be based on inertialtechnology and methods that determine the position of a cursor in a 2Dor 3D environment on a 2D or 3D display. The inertial sensor(s) couldinclude accelerometers, magnetic sensors, and gyroscopes. Position ofthe cursor can be determined by mapping the movement of an operator'shand in space onto a polar coordinates frame of reference, thusoptimizing the number of inertial sensors needed and reducingmanufacturing cost. In such an embodiment, the application of thetechnology can use a single accelerometer in a form factor allowing itto be used as a desktop mouse, a freestanding remote controller, and/ora game controller. In addition to its role as a mouse for theinteraction with 3D environments and 3D GUIs, the device/technology canhave the capability to act as a universal remote controller for 2Dand/or 3D entertainment or media centers.

In another embodiment, the same approach could be used with a glove-likeapplication allowing the user to interact with both 2D and 3Denvironments by limited movements of the hand and/or fingers. In afurther embodiment, this approach could act as an advanced gamecontroller for 3D games. Embodiments could be coupled with hapticfeedback. Furthermore, embodiments of the system or method could beapplied in combination with portable game consoles (Gameboy, PSP . . . )allowing players to interact with mobile games through movements of theconsole itself, in combination with triggers. The triggers could be pushbuttons. The triggers could be symbols on a screen. Embodiments could beuseful with handheld computers and portable phones (such as cellularphones) allowing navigation through 2D or 3D interface menus by movingthe device itself instead of using a stylus or the operator's fingers.Thus, the technology also has the capability to be embedded in variouselectronic devices including wearable and hand-held devices to generatemotion signals for remote applications or built-in applications that canbe rendered on an attached display. This means that embodiments of thepresent invention technology could be embedded in a portable/mobilemedia or communications devices, mobile phones, smartphones, and/ortablet computers. The technology could be used for things such as screenpositioning and sizing, information exchange, and applications toremotely control consumer devices.

Another embodiment of the technology would be as an add-on togame-specific sports hardware for sports games (examples of whichinclude baseball bat, golf club, tennis racket, skateboard, skis, luge,running, cycling, football, soccer, basketball, etc.). In yet anotherembodiment, the technology could be applied for the control of unmannedaerial vehicles (UAVs) and other remote controlled aircraft and/or theirembedded systems such as cameras/other detection equipment. Embodimentscould be used to control other unmanned devices. The same embodiment isapplicable to the control of model toys (aircraft, cars, boats, etc.). Aperson familiar with the art would also find that the technology hasalso applications in the field of medicine, engineering and sciences. Itcould be a virtual scalpel, a controller for a robotic arm, and/or apointer for the manipulation of 3D molecules, for example.

The present invention can be implemented using a 3D Pointer concept. Thethree-dimensional pointer can be achieved by using a sphericalcoordinate system. A spherical coordinate system permits the user toaccess any point in a virtual environment by properly changing thedevice's directions and by increasing or decreasing the pointer length.The tilt angles, pitch and roll, captured from an inertial sensor (suchas an accelerometer) can be are used respectively as Alpha and Betaangles of the spherical coordinate system as illustrated in theequations below. Orientation can be captured from the movement of a hand(or other body part on which the device is worn) by measuring theprojection of the static gravity on the tilted accelerometer (or othertype of inertial sensor). Pointer length, which is the physical analogof the radius R can be simulated by using a trigger pair on the deviceor other haptic input such as other hand movements and orlateral/translational movement of the device. For example, the user canchange the length of the pointer to reach a desired point in 3D space bypressing the increase and decrease triggers. An alternative is to use atime varying pointer length. Combining orientation and pointer length,the instantaneous position of the end of the pointer in the inertialframe can be expressed as a function of the time-varying radius andspherical angles (Euler angle transformation).

X=R(t).Cos (α).Sin(β)

Y=R(t).Sin (α).Sin (β)

Z=R(t).Cos (β)

Like most 3D interfaces, it is important to distinguish between theinertial frame and the user frames. The inertial frame is considered asa reference and all objects in the 3D virtual environment are expressedwith respect to it. Thus, the inertial frame is fixed. The x-axis ispointing to any convenient direction, the z-axis is pointing verticallyupward and the y-axis is perpendicular to both. The user frame is themoveable system containing the pointer. It is defined by a rotationaround the z-axis by ψ and by the rotation around x and y by θ and Φ.Moreover, the distance between those frames defines the offset of thepointer with respect to the inertial frame. The figure below illustratesthose rotations (Euler angle transformations). The matrix linkingbetween those two frames is the product of the following rotationmatrix.

$R = {{e^{{({\hat{z} \times})}\psi}e^{{({\hat{y} \times})}\theta}e^{{({\hat{x} \times})}\varphi}} = {\begin{bmatrix}{\cos (\psi)} & {- {\sin (\psi)}} & 0 \\{\sin (\psi)} & {\cos (\psi)} & 0 \\0 & 0 & 1\end{bmatrix} \cdot {\quad{\begin{bmatrix}{\cos (\theta)} & 0 & {\sin (\theta)} \\0 & 1 & 0 \\{- {\sin (\theta)}} & 0 & {\cos (\theta)}\end{bmatrix} \cdot \begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 & 0 \\0 & {\cos (\phi)} & {- {\sin (\phi)}} \\0 & {\sin (\phi)} & {\cos (\phi)}\end{bmatrix}}}}}$

After developing we get:

$R_{IB} = \begin{bmatrix}{{\cos (\psi)} \cdot {\cos (\theta)}} & \begin{matrix}{{{\cos (\psi)} \cdot {\sin (\theta)} \cdot {\sin (\phi)}} -} \\{{\sin (\psi)} \cdot {\cos (\phi)}}\end{matrix} & \begin{matrix}{{{\cos (\psi)} \cdot {\sin (\theta)} \cdot {\cos (\phi)}} -} \\{{\sin (\psi)} \cdot {\sin (\phi)}}\end{matrix} \\{{\sin (\psi)} \cdot {\cos (\theta)}} & \begin{matrix}{{{\sin (\psi)} \cdot {\sin (\theta)} \cdot {\sin (\phi)}} -} \\{{\cos (\psi)} \cdot {\cos (\phi)}}\end{matrix} & \begin{matrix}{{{\sin (\psi)} \cdot {\sin (\theta)} \cdot {\cos (\phi)}} -} \\{{\cos (\psi)} \cdot {\sin (\phi)}}\end{matrix} \\{- {\sin (\theta)}} & {{\cos (\theta)} \cdot {\sin (\phi)}} & {{\cos (\theta)} \cdot {\cos (\phi)}}\end{bmatrix}$

In one embodiment of the present invention, the 3D interface is used tocreate the virtual reality scene needed to interact with the 3D pointer.This interface is developed in an expandable mode in order to permit anyimprovement in the future. This interface allows the user to interactwith the 3D objects, to change the colors of the ground and the pointer,to change the render mode between wire frame, hidden, and rendered, tochange the view angles and the light intensity, or any other objectcharacteristic.

It is important to mention that the yaw angle can be changed directlyfrom the pointing device in order to make the navigation easier. Toavoid the use of additional sensing components, such as a magneticsensor or gyroscope, it is possible to simulate the yaw dimension by arotation of the field of view. This field of view rotation can beaccomplished by the manipulation of the graphical perspective throughthe interface software, by a pair of control buttons on the deviceitself, and/or by means of other user input. Thus, the yaw angle can begenerated without a gyroscope, by using a gyroscope, by using a magneticsensor, or by adding signals from multiple sensing components.Similarly, gyroscope pitch and roll signals could complement the pitchand roll signals generated by the accelerometer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, we can use an inertialsensor to detect tilt accelerations that will then be converted intomovement. In this particular embodiment, we are using a MEMSaccelerometer developed by Analog Devices, the ADXL202E MEMSaccelerometer. Any similar inertial sensor including thermalaccelerometers could be used. The ADXL202E is a low-cost, low-power,complete two-axis accelerometer with a digital output, all on a singlemonolithic IC. The ADXL202E can measure both dynamic acceleration (e.g.,vibration) and static acceleration (e.g., gravity). The outputs areanalog voltage or digital signals whose duty cycles (ratio of pulsewidth to period) are proportional to acceleration. A microprocessorcounter, without an A/D converter or glue logic, can directly measurethe duty cycle outputs. The duty cycle period is adjustable from 0.5 msto 10 ms via external timing resistor.

The ADXL202E is a complete, dual-axis acceleration measurement system.For each axis, an output circuit converts the analog signal to a dutycycle modulated (DCM) digital signal that can be decoded with the timerport of the microprocessor used. The ADXL202E is capable of measuringboth positive and negative accelerations to at least±2 g. Theaccelerometer can measure static acceleration forces such as gravity,allowing it to be used as a tilt sensor as used in our application.Acceleration will result in an output square wave whose amplitude isproportional to acceleration. Phase sensitive demodulation techniquesare then used to rectify the signal and determine the direction of theacceleration.

One of the most popular applications of the ADXL202E is tiltmeasurement. An accelerometer uses the force of gravity as an inputvector to determine orientation of an object in space. An accelerometeris most sensitive to tilt when its sensitive axis is perpendicular tothe force of gravity, i.e., parallel to the earth's surface. At thisorientation, its sensitivity to changes in tilt is highest. When theaccelerometer is oriented on axis to gravity, i.e., near its +1 g or −1g reading, the change in output acceleration per degree of tilt isnegligible. When the accelerometer is perpendicular to gravity, itsoutput will change nearly 17.5 mg per degree of tilt, but at 45°degrees, it is changing only at 12.2 mg per degree and resolutiondeclines. Because the accelerometer is sensitive to the static gravity,it can be used to measure tilt angles (pitch and roll) by measuring theprojection of the vector g over each axis of the accelerometer.

When the accelerometer is oriented so both its X-axis and Y-axis areparallel to the earth's surface the accelerometer can be used as a twoaxis tilt sensor with a roll and a pitch axis. Once the output signalfrom the accelerometer has been converted to an acceleration that variesbetween −1 g and +1 g, the output tilt in degrees is calculated asfollows:

${Pitch} = {A\; {{Sin}\left( \frac{Ax}{1\mspace{14mu} g} \right)}}$${Roll} = {A\; {{Sin}\left( \frac{Ay}{1\mspace{14mu} g} \right)}}$

In one embodiment of the present invention the 3D hand held input devicethat captures the movement of a hand in free space and controls themovement of a vectorial cursor, object or character in an application ona monitor, or a system in physical space. Thus, the device can bethought of as a 3D mouse, or more generally as a controller. The 3Dinput device uses an inertial sensor, which allows the 3D input deviceto be self-contained without the need for beacons or emitters/receiversto detect generated signals, as the case would be with typical acoustic,magnetic or optical approaches. The 3D input device could also becomplemented by acoustic, magnetic or optical sensing technologies. Morespecifically the 3D input device can be a hand-held device that capturesthe movement of a hand in free space and controls the movement of acursor, a button, an icon or any object or modifies objectcharacteristics, on a display such as an LCD, LED or Plasma monitors orTV sets. The display may be remote or attached to the device. Thecontrol signal can be relayed via a wired connection or via Infrared,Bluetooth, radio-frequency communications, or any other wirelesstechnology such as near field communication in proximity-basedapplications.

Practically, the 3D input device could be used as a mouse for 3D GUIsand volumetric monitors, a controller for 3D games, a pointer forinteractive presentations or as a remote controlling device for theupcoming personal computer entertainment sensors that combine atelevision, a computer and a home theatre. The wireless transmissionrange of the 3D input device can depend on that of the wirelesstechnology used. The 3D input device can also be a wired deviceconnected electrically to a computing device.

The control functionality of the 3D input device could be extended tocontrolling other household peripherals such as telecommunications,lighting, irrigation, security system, heating/cooling or even carstart-up in the morning. This would be done through a software userinterface (Windows, Linux etc.) that would appear on a display such as alarge plasma (or other) screen with this screen playing the role of aTV, computer monitor and command and control interface. In this respect,the 3D input device could be the future universal remote controller forthe next generation of consumer appliances that would be controlledthrough a central computer (network of computers), instead of eachhaving its own micro-controller and remote controlling device. Thecomplexity of remote controllers would then be in the software interfacethat would be made more intuitive (and ideally in 3D) than the scrolldown menu interface and large number of buttons currently available.

As the 3D input device also has a spatial capability with the neededdegrees of freedom, it is a suitable device for the new generation of 3Dmonitors (e.g., stereographic, holographic and volumetric). The 3Dcapability is achieved through a limited amount of hand movements (suchas rotations and translations) that would allow the alignment of afeedback vector (vectorial cursor) with the object to be reached, on themonitor. Practically, the alignment is done by varying the vertical andhorizontal angles of the ray, in a polar frame of reference. Once thealignment is achieved, the 3D input device can extend the ray wherebythe end of the ray could reach the object, thus enabling it for furthermanipulation. This approach allows an optimization of needed electronicswhereby only one inertial device may be needed for basic 3Dfunctionality.

The 3D capability of the device would also enable a new generation ofvirtual reality applications (in this case a haptic feedback might beadded), Industrial and military simulations, advanced 3D computer aideddesign and computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), medicine, molecularchemistry, bio-informatics, etc. For these types of applications, theself-contained and wearable characteristic of the technology would be astrong enabling factor.

One particular embodiment of the invention, relying on its wearablecharacteristic and with applications in medicine, virtual reality,military and industry is a digital glove (i-glove, e-glove). Such aglove would allow consumer, military, medical, and industrial users aseamless interaction with physical and virtual displays and objects,including the activation of virtual push buttons, knobs, and theselection, activation and manipulation of icons and virtual objects,characters of various forms and shapes or object characteristics.

In gaming and simulation applications, the e-glove can allow users theuse of actual sports or military equipment to simulate operation in avirtual environment. For example, soldiers will use their own gear in aserious gaming environment for group training in realistic conditions.Sports players would use their own gear for virtual training andcoaching.

In another application, the e-glove can enable real-life simulation ofmedical surgeries and other medical interventions for surgicalpreparation or teaching applications. In this application, thetechnology may be coupled with haptic feedback allowing the users tooperate on virtual bodies and organs. These bodies and organs would beaccurate rendering from the actual patients organs, rendered throughhigh-resolution 3D imagery of the patient's body.

In one industrial application, the e-glove can allow the remote controlof a five-fingered robotic arm in a natural manner. While having visualfeedback from the scene of operation, the operator will move his handusing translational, rotational, flexing and grasping movements. Thesemovements and gestures will be conveyed wireles sly or via a wired linkto the robotic arm, allowing the operator to accurately and naturallycontrol the movement of the robotic arm and its individual fingers.

In a particular application in aviation, the e-glove can enable air crewwith virtual typing and virtual sign capability and that of annotatingthe real world with hand-motions that become geo-registered icons on thedisplays of all air crews and ground team members simultaneously.Technically, the glove could incorporate at least one accelerometer.More accelerometers may be required in the case of a fingered roboticarm. A gyroscope and a magnetometer may be useful additions to improvetracking of the translational, rotational, flexing and graspingmovements of the hand and arm wearing the glove. This can allow the handto navigate within the frame of a 3D GUI activate switches and buttonson different planes of the virtual interface in use. At least one of theglove fingers can incorporate a sensor that can control a virtual cursorin 3D space. The finger can be able to move the virtual cursor toactivate icons that could be rendered with a 3D GUI. It will also enableusers to type commands, reports etc., by a simple movement of thefingers in air or light tapping on a solid surface.

The glove fingers may be lined with fiber optics or Neoprene bendsensors to sense the bending of the fingers. This would complement thesensors in the fingers allowing an accurate sensing of the fingersflexion for accurate control of robotic arms or full-fingers typing. Thetip of at least three fingers could incorporate infrared LEDs to be usedwith camera-based motion-sensing technology to complement theself-contained motion sensing capability of the e-glove. For typingapplications, a system of texting similar to the one in mobile phoneswhere each finger would be able to selectively type different charactersand numerals may be implemented. A photoelectric virtual keyboard isanother option but lacks the self-contained capability of our approach.This typing application could be extended to consumer devices such astablets enabling users with wearable keyboard capability, allowing themto type like on a regular keyboard, and needing only a hard surface.

In consumer and aviation applications, the e-glove can use existingcamera technology to detect the triangular movement of the LEDs,allowing an accurate gesture and movement tracking in space. In theaviation application, the e-glove may be used with the cameras that arepervasive within the cockpits of advanced jet fighters. These camerasare used among other things to track the movements of pilot's helmetsand adjust the view of weapons cameras accordingly. The same camerascould be used with the e-glove's infrared technology to detect themovement of the gloves and pilots gestures or parts thereof (individualfingers).

This 3D capability can also be an enabling factor for the nextgeneration of game stations and game environments. A game controllerenabled by this 3D technology could control characters (including theirsizes, shapes, positions, orientations, and other characteristics suchas speed and acceleration), in a 3D space or a 2D environment, with verynatural movements.

In one particular embodiment, the technology could be embedded in aportable/mobile game device/system (similar to Gameboy, PlayStationPro,etc.) or portable computer and phone applications mentioned previously,adding 3D capability and control through hand movements and allowing theadvent of 3D games controlled through movements of the game systemitself, thus starting a paradigm shift in portable game systems.

In another embodiment, the technology could be embedded in gamecontrollers that are shaped like sports equipment, (non-extensive listincluding golf clubs, tennis racquets, baseball bats, and/or boxinggloves), thus allowing the creation of realistic video games aroundsports themes. Similarly, the technology could be embedded in actualsports and tactical equipment, including wearable ones (gloves,goggles/glasses, helmets and shoes), allowing real-life sports ortactical simulation in a realistic environment. For example, thetechnology could be embedded in sports and military helmets to measurethe rotational and translational effect of impacts on the helmet and theathlete's head. The technology could be combined with at least onegyroscope and one or more impact sensors such as three sensors formeasuring movement in orthogonal directions or measuring orthogonalrotations). The sensor technology could be in the form of accelerometerscapable of sensing impacts as well as detecting the magnitude, locationand direction of the impact. A temperature sensor and GPS sensor couldalso be included. A memory module would be included for the storing dataand a communications module included for the transmission of the data.In a performance related sports application, the technology embedded ina wearable form can detect the translational acceleration, speed andmovement of the athletes, allowing side-line personnel to assess theperformance and well-being status of each player in order to define thebest game strategy.

In tactical, as well as cycling, motorcycling, horse riding,paragliding, parachuting and similar sports applications requiringwearable equipment such as helmets, gloves and goggles/glasses, thetechnology could be embedded in said helmets, gloves, and/orgoggles/glasses. The additional sensors might include at least onegyroscope, at least one impact detector or accelerometers capable ofdetecting impact, a GPS receiver as well as sensors to monitorphysiological and vital signals including but not limited totemperature, EEG, EKG, Pulse and similar physiological signals. Acommunications module could be included, allowing the transmission ofrotational and translational movements of the helmet, the relatedacceleration/deceleration of the head as well as the position of thewearer and the generated physiological and vital signals. Signaltransmission includes wired, wireless and satellite communications.

Other applications can include a remote controller for hobbyists or formilitary personnel who use unmanned systems such as unmanned airvehicles (UAVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and/or unmanned watervehicles (UWVs). Such unmanned systems can use inertial measurement unit(IMUs) that detect pitch, roll, and yaw from one or more sensors. Theuse of multiple sensors generally makes the movement sensing moreaccurate and responsive.

In a related remote control application, the technology would beembedded in a hard shell impervious to nature's elements includingwater, dust and sand, allowing unmanned systems operators to reducetraining time and naturally control their unmanned systems. In thesetypes of applications, the controller could be complemented by a firstperson viewer system in the form of an attached camera to the unmannedsystem relaying a field of view to the operators via a set of gogglesworn by the operator. Additional linear inputs on the device can allow areal time control of the mounted camera increasing the operator's fieldof view.

Wireless communications protocols such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and NearField Communications (NFC) can be combined with other elements of thepresent invention for a variety of applications. One example is that aportable phone with motion sensing technology could operate as a key foropening a lock in a gate or as a gate opener whereby a rotation ortilting motion is transmitted along with the phone identification (ID)to a tag controlling a mobile lock via NFC. In hand-held gaming consolesenabled with motion sensing capability, NFC could enable motion-basedmultiplayer games in which players would bump their game consoles toconnect to a virtual local gaming network or would need to touch variousNFC tags in a road rally. Wearable motion sensing modules enabled withNFC and embedded into sports equipment such as helmets, gloves, or shoescan provide information about the performance level and health status ofathletes or the intensity of impact when coming into contact withdevices having NFC tags. Wearable motion-sensing modules can also enablesports, training, or simulation environments such as two seniors walkingor running on adjacent treadmills could be controlling charactersrunning at proportional speeds in a countryside landscape with a virtualgame-based landscape rendered on a display. Portable phones havingmotion sensing capability and NFC could be used to give or take moneyfrom a digital account based on specific motions of the phone such as anupward stroke meaning “upload money” and a downward stroke meaning“download money”.

From a marketing perspective, the field seems ripe for the technology,especially technology that can be designed for cost-effectivemanufacturing. One embodiment of the present invention relies onbluetooth wireless communications and RS 232 connectivity. It is alsopossible to have wired USB connectivity and Wi-Fi (wireless)communications or any other enabling technology capable of beingunderstood by anyone skilled.

Figures that Describe Pointing Device Embodiments

FIG. 1 shows a 3D computer system at 100. Referring to FIG. 1 a computeris shown at 107, a computer monitor is shown 101, and a computerkeyboard is shown at 108. A 3D environment 105 and a set of 3Dapplications 106 are shown within the monitor 101. A 3D input device orMouse/Controller 102 interacts with the 3D environment 105 bycontrolling a vectorial cursor 104. In the example shown here, thevectorial cursor 104 is shaped like an arrow giving the user spatialfeedback of the direction and position of the cursor. Depending on theapplication, the length of the arrow could be extensible or fixed. Inthe embodiment shown here, the base of the arrow is a fixed origin of aspherical coordinate system and changes in the length of the vectorialcursor 106 are controlled through a linear input element comprising apair of buttons on the input device 102, allowing a user to reach anypoint in the space depicted on the monitor 101. In an alternateembodiment, the location of the base of the arrow can be controlledthrough the input device allowing the entire arrow, or vectorial cursor104 to move virtually in the 3D space, with the length of the arrowbeing either fixed or responsive to user input through the 3D inputdevice. A linear input element used in such an input device 102 can beany single or multiple user-responsive components understood by anyoneskilled in the art. Examples of linear input elements include a pair ofpush buttons, a slide switch, a touch pad, and a scroll wheel.

It should be noted that a computer system could be any system thatincludes an information-processing unit. Examples of computer systemsinclude, but are not limited to personal digital assistants (PDAs),personal computers, mini-computers, mainframe computers, electronicgames, and microprocessor-based systems used to control personal,industrial or medical vehicles and appliances.

The movement and control functions of the 3D Mouse/Controller 102 areshown as phantom lines at 103. The curved lines and arrows at 103represent possible movements of the device held by the user. An upwardor downward tilt (pitch) of the device would move the vectorial cursor104 in a similar fashion on the screen, while a lateral tilt (roll) in aleft-right manner would move the vectorial cursor 104 on the screen tothe left or right. The magnitude of the vectorial cursor 104 iscontrolled using a pair of control triggers on the device. Thecombination of pitch, roll, and vector magnitude allow the user to reachany point in 3D space using spherical coordinates with a minimal amountof physical movement.

In one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the 3D Mouse/Controller 102 ispointing at 3D applications 106 in 3D graphical user interface (GUI) 105that are displayed on a monitor 101. In another embodiment, the 3DMouse/Controller 102 could control one or more 3D graphical objects in a3D games environment in the same manner. A graphical object can be avideo game character or any other graphical symbol in a 3D environment.In that case, the physical embodiment of the controlling device 102could look like a game controller and the 3D character would besubstituted for the vectorial cursor 103. The vector magnitude derivedfrom a linear input element in the Mouse/Controller 102 can be used tocontrol the size or orientation of the graphical object.

In another embodiment, the Mouse/Controller 102 is a 2D input deviceworking in radial coordinates. In this case, only one tilt angle and aminimum of one linear input are measured in the input device 102 toprovide a 2D navigational device operating in radial coordinates. In yetanother embodiment, the Mouse/Controller 102 is an input device with twolinear input elements capable of changing a vector magnitude inperpendicular axes. These two perpendicular axis in conjunction with onetilt axis can generate a position in 3D space using cylindricalcoordinates.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D show the detailed movement of the 3DMouse/Controller 102 and the related control of the vectorial cursor104. FIG. 2A shows the initial state of the device 102 and vectorialcursor 104 pointing on one application 106. FIG. 2B shows a rightrolling tilt of the device 102 that causes the vectorial cursor 104 tomove right and point to another application 106 to the right of theinitial one in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2C shows an upward tilt of the device 102that causes the vectorial cursor 104 to move up and point to anotherapplication 106 above of the initial one in FIG. 2B. FIG. 2B shows theextension function through a button on the device 102 that causes thevectorial cursor 104 to move further inside the 3D GUI 105 and point toan icon on the desktop 106 above of the application one in FIG. 2C.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C are the actual rendering of the device movements andvectorial cursor control as described in FIG. 1. Namely, an up-down tiltof the device will move the cursor in an upward or downward manner.Similarly, a left-right tilt of the device would move the vectorialcursor to the left or the right. Finally, the vectorial cursor wouldmove forward or backward through the depression of a pair of triggers onthe device itself that controls its spatial extension and retraction.

FIG. 3 shows one physical embodiment of the 3D Mouse/Controller with theknobs and buttons used for interaction with a 3D environment. One pairof buttons 301/302 is the equivalent of the left and right clicks of aregular mouse. They activate similar functions. A second pair of buttons(triggers) 303/304 enables the extension and retraction of the vectorialcursor to reach different parts of a 3D environment, by increasing themodule of the vectorial cursor. The vectorial cursor being the physicalanalog of a spherical vector, the buttons actually increase/decrease themodule of the vector which is rendered on the screen by a movement ofthe vectorial cursor forward or backward.

A third pair of buttons 305/306 allows the user to change the field ofview or “perspective” of a 3D scene, in order to simulate the Yawdimension. . . . This is done by graphically changing the field of viewthrough a graphical transformation in the interface software. The actionis controlled by another pair of triggers on the device.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the 3DMouse/Controller system. The system comprises an input device (which canalso be a hand-held pointing device or a 3D Mouse/Controller) 402 and adisplay control unit module 401. The input device includes an inertialsensor (accelerometer) 424 operable to detect an acceleration as theuser tilts the pointing device in at least one direction; a power supply422 (which can be a battery, AC power supply, solar cell or any othersource of electrical power understood by anyone skilled in the art), aselection unit 423 that comprises a set of user input elements andcircuitry to collect the elements activity and allow the user to:

-   -   select a command identifier on the display the same way a user        would do with the right and left click buttons of a 2D mouse;    -   control the vectorial cursor location through a pair of triggers        that extends the magnitude of the spherical radius R which is        the mathematical representation of the vectorial cursor; and    -   control the field of view of a 3D application.

In one embodiment, the hand-held pointing device 402 also includes acontroller 421 based around a micro controller and digital signalprocessor, a field programmable gate array, programmable logic devices,and other related control circuitry well understood by anyone skilled inthe art. The controller 421 is connected to the accelerometer 424, theselection unit 423 and the power supply 422. The controller 421 isprogrammed to receive accelerometer data and to compute tilt anglesbased on the accelerometer data. The controller 421 is also programmedto receive trigger signals from the selection unit and to compute avector magnitude and field of view translation in response to thetrigger signals. The circuit also manages the battery or other powersource 422 and optimizes power consumption for the system. In oneembodiment, the hand held pointing device further includes acommunications module 425 that converts computed data into communicationprotocols to be dispatched to a host computer via a wireless (or wired)connection 413.

Further referring to FIG. 4, the display unit control module 401 in oneembodiment of the present invention includes a communications module 414to receive the orientation data and user selection activity datatransmitted from the handheld pointing device; and a processing unit 415comprising a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, memory modulesand a driver that interprets communicated data to be viewed by asoftware interface (graphical 3D application) 416; wherein the softwareinterface gives a graphical rendering of dispatched and interpreteddata.

4. Wireless Motion Sensor System Embodiments and Figures

Elements of the embodiments previously described can be incorporatedinto a wireless motion sensor system. Describing the wireless motionsensor system and method embodiments in greater detail, the instrument(previously described as a 3D input device) could measure performanceparameters including but not limited to general activity and motion,speed, acceleration, distance covered, body posture or systemsorientation, gait pattern, body or vehicle movement and rotations. Theinstrument could also detect and measure the frequency of vibrations,falls and impacts and any subsequent variation in performance, posture,orientation, direction and gait patterns after a fall, impact or seriesof impacts or series of vibrations.

Referring now to the related figures, FIG. 5 gives an overview of thestructure and different components of one embodiment of a wirelesswearable motion sensing system. The sensing system shown in FIG. 5 cancomprise one or more sensor hubs 503, one or more wearable peripherals504, one or more beacons 505, one or more local servers 501, and one ormore cloud servers 502. The sensor hub(s) 503 and the beacon(s) 505 canserve as wireless signal relay units. The sensor hub 503 can comprise asensor hub processing unit 532, a sensor hub memory unit 536, along-range transmitter 534, a short-range transmitter 533, battery andpower management module, and sensing components 531. The sensor hub canalso incorporate wired connectivity for firmware loading and batterycharging (not shown). Examples of the sensor hub sensors can include,but are not limited to impact sensor(s), vibration sensor(s),acceleration sensor(s) such as accelerometers, magnetic sensor(s) suchas magnetometers, gyroscope(s), pressure sensor(s) such as barometers oraltimeters, temperature sensor(s), humidity sensor(s), positionsensor(s) such as global positioning system (GPS) modules ortriangulation position sensors, and human physiology sensor(s). Thesesensors can use any sensing technology described in this disclosure orany sensing technology capable of being understood by anyone skilled inthe art. For example, the accelerometers can be high g forceaccelerometers. For purposes of this disclosure and the appended claimshigh g force accelerometers are accelerometers configured to measureaccelerations greater than 16 g (16 times the acceleration of gravity).The human physiology sensors can include (but are not limited to)devices that measure the following human physiologic parameters:

-   -   a. Blood chemistry sensors that can measure parameters such as        blood alcohol, blood amino acids, blood calcium, blood carbon        dioxide, blood catecholomines, blood chlorine, blood cortisol,        blood creatinine, blood dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), blood        electrolyte level, blood glucose, blood hematocrit, blood        hemoglobin, blood lactate concentration, blood oxygen        saturation, blood PH, blood potassium, blood sodium        concentration, and blood uric acid.    -   b. Blood pressure sensors which can measure parameters such as        systolic (maximum) pressure, diastolic (minimum) pressure, and        pulse rate. Blood pressure can be measured by a barosensor place        on the skin over an artery. The barosensor could be implemented        as a MEMS (micro electro mechanical sensor) device or an optical        sensor and can measure pressure in the blood vessels. An example        of such sensor could be the sapphire optoelectronic blood        pressure sensor made by Tarilian Laser Technologies.    -   c. Body position and orientation can be measured using        mechanoreceptors, which could measure mechanical changes in the        body using a MEMS sensor such as that used in the HITS (head        impact telemetry system) developed at Virginia Tech and        Dartmouth College in 2002. Body position can also be measured        using a GPS position measurement of a body part, or optical,        magnetic, gyroscopic, or acceleration-based sensors. These        sensors could be on any body part and could measure relative        motion of various body parts to each other.    -   d. Brain activity can be measured using an electroencephalograph        (EEG), which could record the electrical potential along the        scalp produced by the neurons within the brain. EEG measurement        can be done using any EEG technology capable of being understood        by anyone skilled in the art.    -   e. Eye position and movement can be measured using a video        camera that records images of the user's eyes as they move.    -   f. Eyelid position and movement can be measured using a video        camera that records images of the user's eyelids as they move.    -   g. Other eye parameters can also be measured. One example can be        retinal scanners, such as those made by Optos, which scan        features of the back of the retina.    -   h. Heart function, which can include both heart rate and an        electrocardiogram (ECG). The pulse can also be referred to as        the heart rate, which is the number of times the heart beats        each minute (bpm). Heart rate gives a simple measure of heart        function that can be measured using a simple electrically        conductive sensor that measures electrical signals in the skin        or changes in blood pressure to get a pulse. One example of such        a sensor can be the Polar Electro hear rate monitor. An        electrocardiogram, also called an EKG or ECG, is a simple,        painless test that records the heart's electrical activity. An        ECG, which could be implemented using any ECG technology capable        of being understood by anyone skilled in the art.    -   i. Respiratory chemistry, such as expired carbon dioxide and        expired oxygen, can be measured on the face mask or on the        helmet using sensors made by companies such as Philips        Respironics or Analox Sensor Technology.    -   j. Respiratory rate can be measured on the skin surface, or it        could be measured on the mask of a helmet. It can also be        measured using piezo respiratory sensors or chest and abdominal        movement sensing belts, such as those made by Gereonics.    -   k. Skin parameters, such as touch, vibration, position, and/or        sense can be measured with proprioceptive sensors placed on a        skin surface, an example of which might be the iSkin sensors        developed by Saarland University and Carnegie Mellon University;    -   l. Galvanic skin response sensors (GSR) can measure        characteristics such as stress, anxiety, hydration, and        electrodermal activity.    -   m. Skin temperature can be measured by skin sensors such as        those made by Maastricht Instruments. The skin temperature        sensor could incorporate a thermistor.

The battery and power management module 535 of the sensor hub 503 cancomprise a high endurance rechargeable battery. For example, to optimizeoperation and usability, and enable long-range communication capability,the sensor hub 503 can incorporate a light and compact rechargeablebattery with a minimum endurance of 3 hours and a power managementsystem synchronized with the processor's operation. Except whenemergency alerts are generated and the data needs to be instantaneouslyforwarded to the sideline server, long range communication to transmitthe sensing data is only activated according to a pre-set dispatchfrequency that dynamically adapts to the battery charge level. Althoughthe sensor hub 503 is technically capable of transmitting data directlyto the local server 501 or the cloud server, if needed, the availabilityof the sideline beacons 505 can optimize data flow and batteryendurance. For the same reason, the short-range communication betweenthe wearable peripheral 504 and the sensor hub 503 optimizes thewearable peripheral battery endurance.

The sensor hub long-range transmitter 534 can be configured forcommunication (transmission and receiving) with the local serverlong-range transmitter 514 and the beacon long-range transmitter 554.The transmission technologies for the long-range transmitters 534, 514,and 554 can be any wireless transmission technology capable of beingunderstood by anyone skilled in the art, including, but not limited to:

-   -   a. Bluetooth, which is a wireless technology standard for        exchanging data over distances up to 100 meters. Bluetooth was        originally conceived as a wireless alternative to RS-232 data        cables. It can connect several devices, overcoming problems of        synchronization. It is designed for low-power consumption, with        mostly a short range based on low-cost transceiver microchips in        each device. Officially, Class 3 radios have a range of up to 1        meter (3 ft), Class 2, most commonly found in mobile devices, 10        meters (33 ft), and Class 1, primarily for industrial use cases,        100 meters (300 ft). In most practical cases, a Class 1 maximum        range is 20-30 meters (66-100 feet) and a Class 2 maximum range        is 5-10 meters (5-30 feet). Bluetooth uses the 2.4-gigahertz ISM        (industrial, scientific, medical) band that is 83 megahertz        wide. Bluetooth uses frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)        and is allowed to hop between 79 different 1 megahertz wide        channels in this band.    -   b. Zigbee, which is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh network        standard targeted at the wide development of long battery life        devices in wireless control and monitoring applications. Zigbee        devices have low latency, which further reduces average current.        Zigbee can operate in the 868 megahertz, 915-megahertz, and        2.4-gigahertz bands.    -   c. WiFi (also written as Wi-Fi), which is a local area wireless        computer networking technology that allows electronic devices to        connect to the network, mainly using the 2.4-gigahertz (12 cm)        UHF (ultra high frequency) and 5-gigahertz (6 cm) SHF (super        high frequency) ISM (industrial, scientific, and medical) radio        bands. Among the most common current WiFi implementations use        the IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac        standards. The IEEE 802.11ah implementation (White-Fi or Super        WiFi) is also highly suitable for longer-range transmission at        lower (sub 1-gigahertz) frequencies that have less propagation        losses and allow greater distances.    -   d. Cellular 3G/4G, which is third generation and fourth        generation cellular telecommunication technology that provide a        data transfer rate of at least 200 kilobits per second. Later 3G        releases, often named 3.5G, 3.75G, and 3.9G, provide data        transfer rates of greater than 1 megabit/second. 3G cellular        supports traditional circuit-switched telephony technologies. 4G        cellular uses an all-Internet Protocol (IP) based        implementation.    -   e. Satellite, which is wireless communication that uses        electromagnetic waves requiring line-of-sight with a satellite.        These communications are therefore obstructed by the curvature        of the earth. Communication via satellites can relay a signal        around the curve of the earth, allowing communication between        widely separated points. Communication between ground and        satellites and between two satellites can be done at a large        spectrum of wavelengths and frequencies. Globalstar, Iridium,        and Thuraya are an example of satellite communications networks        that could be used for long-range communication by embodiments        of the present invention.    -   f. Z-Wave, which is a low-power radio frequency communication        technology originally designed for home automation optimized for        reliable low-latency communication of small data packets with        data rates up to 100 kilobit/second. Z-Wave operates at 908.42        MHz in the U.S. and Canada but uses other frequencies in other        countries depending on their regulations. The sub-1-gigahertz        band used in the US is not subject to interference from WiFi and        other wireless technologies in the 2.4-GHz range such as        Bluetooth or ZigBee. This nominally 900 MHz band is the same        Part 15 unlicensed ISM band spectrum band used for cordless        phones. The modulation is Gaussian frequency shift keying (FSK).        Available data rates include 9600 bits/second and 40        kilobits/second. Output power is 1 milliwatt or 0 dBm. As with        any wireless technology, the range of transmission depends on        the environment. In free space conditions, a range of up to 30        meters is possible. The through-wall range is considerably less.        Z-Wave is scalable, enabling control of up to 232 devices. The        Z-Wave wireless mesh networking technology enables any node to        talk to other adjacent nodes directly or indirectly through        available relays.

Communication between the sensor hub 503 and the wearable peripheral 504can be implemented by configuring the sensor hub short-range transmitter533 for communication (transmission and receiving) with the wearableperipheral short-range transmitter 543. The transmission technologiesfor the short-range transmitters 533 and 543 can be any wirelesstransmission technology capable of being understood by anyone skilled inthe art, including, but not limited to:

-   -   a. Bluetooth Class 2 and Class 3, which are subsets of the        Bluetooth protocol, and mostly used with computer peripherals        and mobile devices. Bluetooth Class 3 radios have a range of up        to 1 meter (3 feet). Bluetooth Class 2 radios have a range of up        to 10 meters (30 feet).    -   b. Near field communications (NFC), which is a set of        communication protocols that enable two electronic devices, one        of which is usually a portable device such as a smartphone, to        establish communication by bringing them within 4 cm (2 in) of        each other. NFC employs electromagnetic induction between two        loop antennae when NFC devices—for example a smartphone and a        “smart poster”—exchange information, operating within the        globally available unlicensed radio frequency ISM (industry,        science, medicine) band of 13.56 MHz on ISO/IEC 18000-3 air        interface at data rates ranging from 106 kilobits/second to 424        kilobits/second.    -   c. ANT, which is a proprietary (but open access) multicast        wireless sensor network that defines a wireless communications        protocol stack that enables hardware operating in the 2.4 GHz        ISM band to communicate by establishing standard rules for        co-existence, data representation, signaling, authentication,        and error detection It is conceptually similar to Bluetooth low        energy, but is oriented towards usage with sensors. ANT is        primarily incorporated into sports and fitness sensors, though        it may additionally be used for other purposes. ANT can be        configured to spend long periods in a low-power “sleep” mode        (consuming of the order of microamps of current), wake up        briefly to communicate (when consumption rises to a peak of 22        milliamps (at −5 dB) during reception and 13.5 milliamps (at −5        dB) during transmission and return to sleep mode. Average        current consumption for low message rates is less than 60        microamps on some devices.    -   d. Z-wave, as described previously.

The wearable peripheral 504 can comprise one or more wearable peripheralsensors 541, a wearable peripheral processing unit 542, data storagememory (not shown), a compact battery (not shown), and the wirelessperipheral short-range transmitter 543. The wearable peripheral sensors541 can be any one or more of the sensors previously described as sensorhub sensors 531. In one embodiment, the dimensions of the peripheralsensing instrument can be smaller that a US quarter (i.e. less than 24.2millimeters in diameter and less than 1.8 millimeters in thickness.Sensing data generated by the compact wearable peripheral sensing unit504 can be relayed to the central sensor hub 503 where it is combinedwith data generated by the central hub sensors 531. The combined datacan then be transmitted wirelessly to a local server 501 that could beat a long distance (at least 100 meters, at least 300 meters, at least1,000 meters) from the sensor hub 503.

The transmission of data between the sensor hub or hubs 503, thewearable peripheral or peripherals 503, the beacon or beacons 505, thelocal server or servers 501, and/or the cloud server or servers 502 cancomprise the use of an internet of things (IoT) mode or protocol.Examples of IoT protocols can be efficient communications protocols fortransmitting data. They include, but are not limited to:

-   -   a. CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol), which is a        lightweight Alternative to the HTTP (hypertext transfer        protocol) used for transmitting web pages. CoAP packets are        mostly based around bit mapping.    -   b. MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport) is the IoT protocol        of choice for many early adopters of IoT applications. It was        created in about 2002 and was designed to conserve both power        and memory. It is a message queuing protocol that uses a        publish/subscribe methodology to allow multiple clients to post        messages and receive updates from a central server.

The IoT protocols can be implemented over any short-range or long-rangetransmission technology including those describe previously. Someexamples of IoT protocols and related (short range and/or long range)transmission technologies can include:

-   -   a. Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE)—or Bluetooth Smart, as it is now        branded—which offers a similar range to Bluetooth, but designed        for significantly reduced power consumption.    -   b. ZigBee IP, the protocol used with the ZigBee communication        technology described previously.    -   c. 6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low Power Wireless Personal Area        Networks), a protocol that can allow the transmission on data        between devices over a WiFi (or wired) Ethernet network using        Ipv6 packets. The Thread protocol can operate on 6LoWPAN.    -   d. Z-Wave, as described previously.    -   e. IoT over cellular 3G and 4G networks.    -   f. IoT over NFC (near field communication).    -   g. Sigfox is a technology that has a range longer than WiFi and        not as long as cellular.

Sigfox uses a technology called Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) and is onlydesigned to handle low data-transfer speeds of 10 to 1,000 bits persecond. It consumes only 50 microwatts compared to 5000 microwatts forcellular communication, or can deliver a typical stand-by time 20 yearswith a 2.5 amp hour battery while this is only 0.2 years for cellular.

-   -   h. Neul is similar in concept to Sigfox and operating in the        sub-1 gigahertz band. Neul uses small slices of the TV white        space spectrum to deliver high scalability, high coverage, low        power and low-cost wireless networks.    -   i. LoRaWAN, is similar in some respects to Sigfox and Neul.        LoRaWAN targets wide-area network (WAN) applications and is        designed to provide low-power WANs (wide area networks) with        features specifically needed to support low-cost mobile secure        bi-directional communication in IoT, M2M (machine to machine),        smart city, and industrial applications.

Referring further to the system shown in FIG. 5, the system can alsoinclude one or more beacons, shown at 505. Beacon units 505 can bepositioned on the periphery of a playing field. The beacon or beacons505 can be configured to be a router, position tracking beacon, and/oran environmental sensing hub. If direct communication between the sensorhub 503 and the local server 501 is not available, the beacons 505 canreceive data from the sensor hub 503 via one of the long-range protocolsdiscussed previously, from which the data could be forwarded to thelocal server 501, for potential onward transmission to the cloud server502. In another network topology, a beacon 505 could receive signalsdirectly from a wearable peripheral 504, if the wearable peripheralshort-range transmitter 504 is using the same transmission protocol asthe beacon long-range transmitter 554.

In yet another network topology, the cellular data modem 553 that islocated in the beacon can move data directly to the cloud server 502using an internet protocol over the cellular network. This can be usefulif the local server 501 is not available. Similarly, the wearableperipheral(s) 504, sensor hub(s) 503, or local server(s) 501 could havecellular data modems that communicate with each other or with thebeacon(s) 505. More broadly, such communications between any of thesesystem elements (local server(s) 501, cloud server(s) 502, sensor hub(s)503, wearable peripheral(s), and beacons(s) 505) could use any of thelong-range transmission, short-range transmission, and/or IoTtransmission technologies described in this disclosure or any otherwireless technologies or protocols capable of being understood by anyoneskilled in the art.

Typical beacon sensors 551 can include sensors that measureenvironmental parameters such as barometric pressure, temperature,humidity, altitude, and position. The beacon or beacons 505 can alsohelp improve the accuracy to which players are tracked when GPStechnology is unavailable. The position tracking capability of thebeacons could be complemented by the dead reckoning capability of thesensing instruments. The beacon or beacons can also comprise amicrophone sensor, and this microphone sensor could be responsive tosounds from the field or sounds from the audience, such as the volume ofcheers from the spectators at a sporting event. The beacon or beacons505 can comprise a beacon battery and power management module 555 withfunctionality similar to the sensor hub battery and power managementmodule 535 described previously. The beacon or beacons 505 can comprisea beacon memory module 556 with functionality similar to the sensor hubbattery and power management module 535 described previously.

In one embodiment, the local server 501 is a laptop computer located onthe sidelines of a sporting event in which one or more athletes areoutfitted with a sensor hub 503 and one or more wearable peripherals504, with one or more beacons 505 on the sidelines. Referring now to thelocal server 501, the server 501 receives data from the wearableperipheral sensors 541, the sensor hub sensors 531, and/or the beaconsensors 551 through the wireless transmission network that haspreviously been described. In addition to the local server long-rangetransmitter 514 used for receiving this data, the local server 501comprises a local server processing unit 512, a local server memory unit513, a local server graphical user interface 511 and a local serverinternet connection 515. The local server internet connection 515 can beused to connect the local server 501 to the internet, from which theservices of a cloud server 502 or other functionality available “in thecloud” can be accessed.

The local server graphical user interface 511 can present the datagenerated by the sensing instruments and processed by the analysisserver in graphical format using numbers, graphs, bar charts or piecharts. Referring to FIG. 6, an advanced form of the graphical userinterface 110 on a computer monitor 101 could present the data as asuperimposed legend 113, over a real-time video feed of the game thatincludes images of sports players 112. A post-game alternative couldpresent the data via an avatar of the players in a video-gamingenvironment with the movements and position of the players controlled bythe data generated by the sensing instruments and beacons positiontracking functions. This could be useful in a realistic implementationof fantasy football environment where the field-generated data wouldcontrol the fantasy football characters. To add realism, theenvironmental parameters and crowds cheers could be integrated in thepost-game video-gaming re-enactment of the game.

Further referring to FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the cloud server 502 isa server in a “cloud farm” that has been configured to talk to theinternet through an internet connection 524. The cloud server 502further comprises a web server 521 that can access a database 523. Thecloud server also includes a web browser interface 522 that and interactwith the local server 501 by configuring HTML (hypertext markuplanguage) pages to be sent via the hypertext transfer protocol (http)through the server internet connection 524 to the local server internetconnection 515 to be displayed using a graphical user interface 511.

In one embodiment of the present invention, we can use a 9-axis IMU(inertial measurement unit) that can measure three axes of accelerometerrotation input, three axes of accelerometer linear displacement input,three axes of gyroscope rotational input, and three axes of magnetometermeasurement of angles relative to the earth's magnetic field. In thisparticular embodiment, we can use a MEMS IMU component developed byInvensense, the 9250 IMU. Any similar IMU including a combination ofindividual accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers could be used.The 9250 IMU is a miniature, self-contained, low-power, complete 9-axisIMU with a digital output, all on a single monolithic IC. The 9250 IMUcan measure dynamic acceleration (e.g., vibration) and staticacceleration (e.g., gravity), angular acceleration and angles withrespect to the magnetic pole. For the detection of impacts we can use ahigh G accelerometer with the capability to measure a maximumacceleration of 400 Gs, can be used. In this particular embodiment, weare using STMicroelectronics′ H3LIS331DLTR accelerometer with selectivehigh acceleration ranges of 100 G, 200 G and 400 G.

Low energy Bluetooth technology can be used for communication betweenthe peripheral sensing instrument and the sensors hub. In oneembodiment, we can use a Texas Instruments' ‘Low Energy Bluetooth IC SOC2.4 GHZ BLUETOOTH (CC2541F128RHAT) chip with basic microcontrollerfunctionality allowing basic processing functions to take place at theperipheral sensors level, prior to forwarding the generated data to thesensors hub.

Long-range communication between the sensors hub and the beacons or thelocal server could also rely on Class 1 Bluetooth technology, WiFitechnology or any similar technology. In one embodiment, we can use aMicrochip SOC 2.4GHZ BLUETOOTH 40VQFN chip (RN41-I/RM).

An ARM-based microcontroller can be used for low-power high throughputprocessing. The controller in one embodiment of the present invention isa Texas Instruments model MSP432P401R with 256 KB of flash memory and 64KB RAM. This controller comes from the Texas Instruments 32-bit MF4ARMCortex processor family. It is an ultra-low-power, high-performancemixed signals micro-controller. The MSP432P401× family features the ARMCortex-M4 processor in a wide configuration of device options includinga rich set of analog, timing, and communication peripherals, therebycatering to a large number of application scenarios where both efficientdata processing and enhanced low-power operation are paramount

Power for the peripheral sensing hubs can be provided by a CR2032 coincell battery. The sensors hub can use a rechargeable LI/Polymer batterysuch as a 3.7V 120 milliamp-hour battery from Tenergy. Any compact, highendurance and rechargeable alternative battery could be used for eitherapplication.

FIG. 7 shows how the sensor hub 503 and the wearable peripheral 504 thatwere shown in FIG. 5 can be used in a sports application, such asAmerican football. Referring to FIG. 7 the sensor hub 503 can be worn onthe trunk of a football player. The sensor hub 503 can receive data fromone or more of the peripheral sensing instruments (i.e. wearableperipherals) 504 on the arm, the leg and the helmet of the player. Datacollected by the sensor hub 503 can be transmitted to one or moresideline beacons, shown at 505. The beacon(s) 505 can forward thegenerated data to the local server (501 in FIG. 5), which can transmitdata on to the cloud server (502 in FIG. 5). A sensing unit 506 withsimilar capability worn sensor hub 504 could also be located inside thefootball. The data generated by the sensing unit 506 could also be sentto the sideline beacon 505, and be forwarded to the local server 501 inFIG. 5 and/or the cloud server 502 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the local server 501 that was shownin FIG. 5. The local server processor, 512 in FIG. 5, comprises twodifferent functions, a data collection server 519 and a data analysisserver 518. Both of these two servers 519 and 518 are connected to alocal server database 513 that stores the data generated by the sensorhub(s), 503 in FIG. 5, the wearable peripheral(s), 504 in FIG. 5, andthe beacon(s), 505 in FIG. 5. The database 513 is also connected to areporting module 516 and with the information made available to usersthrough a GUI (graphical user interface) 511.

Referring to FIG. 6, a real-time video stream with thebiomechanics/performance parameters overlap can allow the coaching teamto have a real-time feedback for the performance and injury level ofplayers. More specifically:

-   -   a. The coaching team could view absolute performance parameters        such as speeds and accelerations 113. These parameters could be        available instantaneously and/or as an average over the game.    -   b. The coaching team could view performance parameters relative        to the player's benchmarks established during training.    -   c. A graphical rendering of the parameters (bar chart) could be        available, which would make the data easier to evaluate.    -   d. The coaching could view the performance parameters of their        players relative to that of the opponents' team allowing them to        optimize game tactics.    -   e. The coaching team could have a real-time view of a team's        average performance. This would help optimize game strategies        (offensive versus defensive).    -   f. The coaching team could receive real-time alerts for players        sustaining impacts.    -   g. The accumulation impacts of lower magnitude could trigger        alerts.

Embodiments of the present invention could provide post-game informationof the team's performance and injury level. More specifically:

-   -   a. Post-games, seasonal performance of team could help optimize        the drafting process by providing accurate data for needed        players with specific performance parameters.    -   b. Post-game, the overall effect of impacts on team (and        individuals) could assist in establishing future player's lineup        and game strategies.    -   c. Post-game average parameters could be compared to benchmark        parameters and scoring.

The data collection server can coordinate the reception of datagenerated by the sensing instruments whether sent directly or throughthe beacons system. The data collection server can then store thereceived data in its database and make it available for processing bythe analysis server. The analysis server receives the data generated bythe peripheral and main sensing units from the data collection server,and runs the different algorithms to generate the impact and performanceinformation that will be presented in the form of tables, graphs orcharts in the graphical user interface. The analysis server furthercombines the data from the sensing instruments with stored data fromsubjective questionnaire sources and quantitative assessments togenerate risk factor information. The generated information can beviewed graphically through the graphical user interface and compiled inthe reporting module in spreadsheet format. Examples of the generatedinformation can include, but is not limited to:

-   -   a. Impact parameters such as magnitude, location, direction,        frequency and induced linear and rotational accelerations;    -   b. Performance parameters such as averages, accelerations,        maximum accelerations, average speeds, maximum speeds, playfield        coverage, penetration ratios, scoring ratios, scoring speeds,        and scoring accelerations;    -   c. Risk factors that quantify the likelihood of a player having        a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion in subsequent games;    -   d. Performance indicators that give information about the        overall performance level of players as compared to their        benchmark performance; and    -   e. Neuromotor parameters (including, but not limited to gait        pattern and nystagmus) that give an indication of the        coordination ability of a player.

The reporting server compiles impact, performance and risk factorinformation for individual players on the team and makes it available ina spreadsheet or database format, such as a .csv, a .xls, or an xlxsfile format. The reporting server could later run an algorithm withpre-selected benchmarks to generate a risk factor and a performanceindicator for the whole team.

A smart device is an electronic device, generally connected to otherdevices or networks via different protocols such as Bluetooth, NFC,WiFi, 3G, etc., that can operate to some extent interactively andautonomously. Smart devices include a tablet, a smartphone, a smartwatch, see-through glasses, or virtual reality goggles. Smart devicescan be defined as portable or wearable devices that integrate aprocessing module and interactive graphical user interface. Smartdevices can have short-range communication capability or long-rangecommunication capability as described previously. In one embodiment,smart devices receive data from the local server, the cloud server,and/or directly from the sensing units, if in close proximity. Smartdevices can allow a person to view sensing data generated by the sensingunits and reporting data generated by the reporting module in real-time.

FIG. 9 illustrates more detail about the cloud server (or cloud server)502 that shown as part of FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 9, the cloud server502 receives the data generated by the sensor hub(s), 503 in FIG. 5, thewearable peripheral(s), 504 in FIG. 5, and the beacon(s), 505 in FIG. 5through the internet connection 524. This data can be stored in thecloud server database (cloud database) 523. The data can be viewedthrough a graphical user interface (GUI) 527 that could reside on aworkstation computer or a laptop. It could also be viewed through smartdevice interface 528 by a portable device such as a tablet, asmartphone, and/or a wearable device such as a watch, smart glasses, orsmart goggles. The web server, 521 in FIG. 5, can perform a variety offunctions, including acting as a cloud data collection server, as shownat 526, and an analysis engine, as shown at 525. The cloud database 523can be used to information generated by the algorithms residing on theanalysis engine 525.

The cloud data server receives the information generated by the localserver (or servers) of the different teams using the system, stores thedata in the cloud database, and performs the needed data managementsteps in order to make the data available for analysis by the cloudanalysis server. In specific circumstances, the cloud data server couldreceive directly from the beacons or wearable sensors, using IoTcommunications protocols.

The cloud analysis server compiles the information sent by the differentlocal servers and performs big data predictive analysis using dataanalysis techniques such as data mining, machine learning, or deeplearning. These data analysis techniques can be based on algorithms thatattempt to model high-level abstractions in data by using multipleprocessing layers, with complex structures or otherwise, composed ofmultiple non-linear transformations. These algorithms seek to makebetter representations and create models to learn these representationsfrom large-scale unlabeled data. This massive data processing approachcan enable “insight extraction” and the acquisition of intelligencerelated to the correlation of concussions and traumatic brain injuryoccurrences not only with the parameters of a given impact or series ofimpacts (magnitude, frequency, location and direction), but also withthe specific demographic and physiological profile of the players beingaffected, as well as the prevailing environmental parameters(temperature, altitude, barometric pressure and humidity) at the time ofimpact. The end objective will allow the generation of personalizedimpact thresholds, frequency ranges and risk factors mapped to thevarious demographic and physiological profiles of players and thedifferent environmental circumstances under which they could play. Thesepersonalized parameters would in turn update the databases of the localservers for the different teams, allowing them to have a more precisemonitoring of their player's safety.

The overall process of extracting insights from big data can be brokendown into the following five stages:

-   -   a. Data acquisition and recording;    -   b. Data extraction, cleaning and annotation;    -   c. Data integration, aggregation, and representation;    -   d. Data modeling and analysis; and    -   e. Data interpretation

The above five stages form the two main sub-processes. (1) datamanagement, which encompasses the first three stages; and (2) analytics,which encompasses the last two stages. Data management involvesprocesses and supporting technologies to acquire and store data and toprepare and retrieve it for analysis. Analytics, on the other hand,refers to techniques such as the ones mentioned earlier used to analyzeand acquire intelligence from the big data sets.

FIG. 10 illustrates some of the key steps of the processing that canoccur in the wearable peripheral that was shown in FIG. 5. The processbegins by establishing a system similar to that which was shown withreference to FIG. 5, including establishing wearable peripheral sensors,step 601, of the type described with reference to FIG. 5. Referencevalues for the outputs of those sensors should also be established, astep shown at 602. After establishing reference values, the differentsensors in the unit measure their respective parameters 603, such asorientation, acceleration, impact, vibration, physiologic, orenvironmental, etc. Because embodiments of the present invention can usewearable peripherals that can go into a sleep mode to reduce powerconsumption, and these same embodiments must be able to wake up whenreceiving a sensor input that is outside the boundaries of a referencevalue, the system can be configured so that the measured parameters 603are compared to the reference values 602 on a continuous basis and themeasurement of a parameter outside a reference value can trigger thewearable peripheral to wake up, process the data, potentially trigger analarm 608 and transmit the alarm signal to another device such as thesensor hub 612, before going back to sleep to conserve electrical power.

When the wearable peripheral is awake, the output of the parametermeasurement step 603 (i.e. the measured data) is processed by a fusionalgorithm 604 (such as a Kalman algorithm, shown in FIG. 15A and FIG.15B, or a Madgwick algorithm, shown in FIG. 16) to calculate the neededperformance values 605, in order to generate risk factor values 606 whencompared with reference values. The generated data from the stepsdescribe so far can be stored in the internal memory of the wearableperipheral. If the data falls outside the safety ranges in the stepshown at 607, and alarm can be triggered 608 and the data is immediatelytransmitted to sensor hub 612. If the data is within the safety range,the data can be transmitted according to a pre-established periodicalschedule 611, in order to optimize battery endurance. All process stepscan be coordinated by a real time clock synchronized with the clock onthe main hub and local server.

FIG. 11 illustrates the processing that occurs in the sensor hub thatwas shown in FIG. 5. In comparing FIG. 11 with FIG. 10, one can see thatthe steps of establishing the sensor(s) 601, establishing referencevalue(s) 602, measuring the parameter(s) 603, filtering the sensorsignal(s) 604, calculating performance value(s) 605, and calculatingrisk factor(s) are the same for the sensor hub in FIG. 11 as theequivalent steps that were described for the wearable peripheral in FIG.10. As was described with reference to FIG. 5, a sensor hub can beconfigured to receive data from one or more wearable peripherals. Thus,FIG. 11 shows that the sensor hub's process can include the step ofestablishing communication with one or more wearable peripherals 621 andreceiving signals from these wearable peripherals 622. Data from thewearable peripheral(s), data from the sensors of the sensor hub, andreference value data, can be stored in the sensor hub's internal memoryand analyzed to determine if there are any values out of range, a stepshown at 623. If, when comparing this data with pre-established safetyranges, any of the data falls outside the safety ranges, an alarm can betriggered 624 and the data can be instantaneously transmitted 625 to thelocal server, the cloud server, or a smart device (as described withreference to FIG. 8), when available. If the data is within the safetyrange, it can be transmitted according to a pre-established periodicalschedule 626, to optimize battery endurance. All process steps can becoordinated by a real time clock synchronized with the clock on the mainhub and local server.

FIG. 12 illustrates the processing that occurs in the beacon or beaconsshown in FIG. 5. The beacon or beacons can serve as network relays toprovide a communication link between the sensor hub or hubs, the localserver or servers, and between beacons. In some embodiments, the beaconor beacons can also provide a communication link to one or more wearableperipherals, or to a cloud server of the type described in other partsof this disclosure. Thus, the process steps performed by the beacon orbeacons can comprise establishing communication with the local server orservers 632, establishing communication with another beacon or beacons633, establishing communication with the sensor hub or hubs 634, andestablishing communication with the wearable peripheral or peripherals635. Furthermore, as was shown in FIG. 5, the sensor beacon or beacon'scan also comprise environmental sensors. Thus, referring to FIG. 12processing in the sensor beacon or beacons can comprise the steps ofestablishing communication with environmental sensor(s) 631,establishing communication with local server(s) 632, establishingcommunication with other beacons 633, establishing communication withsensor hub(s) 634, and establishing communication with wearableperipheral(s) 635. Once communication has been established with theenvironmental sensors 631, environmental parameters can be measured 636.These measured environmental parameters can be filtered using the sameprocesses that were described for the wearable peripheral(s) in FIG. 10.Filtered environmental sensor parameters in the beacons can be used tocalculate performance values and risk factors in the same way as wasdescribed for the wearable peripheral(s) in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG.10, data from the environmental sensor(s) can be combined with data fromthe sensor hub(s) and data from the wearable peripheral(s) to determinea player's position 637. Data from other beacon(s), from theenvironmental sensor(s), from the sensor hub(s), from the wearableperipheral(s), and from the determination of the player's position canbe collected, stored, and organized 638. The results from this step canbe transmitted to the local server 639.

FIG. 13 illustrates the processing that occurs in the local server orservers shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 13 the primary functions ofthe local server can comprise storing and analyzing data 650,transmitting data to the cloud server 651, and presenting data on alocal terminal, terminals, smart device, and/or smart devices 652. Theseprimary functions can be accomplished by acquiring data from the cloudserver 647 after establishing communication with the cloud server 643,acquiring field data 648 after establishing communication with thebeacon(s) 644, the sensor hub(s) 645, and/or the wearable peripheral(s)646, and acquiring data from local terminal(s) and/or smart device(s)649 after establishing communication with these terminal(s) and/ordevices 642. The local server can establish a local server database 641to help store and analyze data 650.

FIG. 14 illustrates the processing that occurs in the cloud server orservers shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 14 the primary functions ofthe cloud server can comprise storing and analyzing data 670,transmitting data to the local server 671, and presenting data on acloud terminal, terminals, smart device, and/or smart devices 672. Theseprimary functions can be accomplished by acquiring data from the localserver 667 after establishing communication with the local server 663,acquiring field data 668 after establishing communication with thebeacon(s) 664, the sensor hub(s) 665, and/or the wearable peripheral(s)666, and acquiring data from cloud terminal(s) and/or smart device(s)669 after establishing communication with these terminal(s) and/ordevices 662. The cloud server can establish a cloud server database 661to help store and analyze data 670.

FIG. 15A shows the main elements of a generalized Kalman filter. AKalman filter is a linear, unbiased, and minimum error variancerecursive algorithm that optimally estimates the unknown state of alinear dynamic system from noisy data taken at discrete real-timeintervals. Referring to FIG. 15A, the actual measurement Xi is comparedwith the predicted measurement from the prediction model 706, a stepshown at 701. The measured difference between actual measurement Xi andthe output from the prediction model 706 is called residual orinnovation Ri. This residual Ri is multiplied by a Kalman filter gain inthe step labeled 702. Step 702 can comprise a matrix multiplication. Inthe step labeled 703 the output of the Kalman gain computation is addedto the system model output based on the previous estimate, a value shownas Ŝi\i+1. The result of the addition in step 703 is a new stateestimate Ŝi. The new state estimate Ŝi is updated at discrete timeintervals based on the length of the time interval delay 704. After thistime delay, the most recent state estimate becomes Ŝi−1, and is calledthe previous state estimate. The previous state estimate Ŝi−1 is thenfed through a system model 705 which results in a system model outputbased on the previous state estimate Ŝi \i−1. This system modeltransformation 705 can comprise a matrix multiplication. The systemmodel output based on the previous estimate Ŝi\i−1 serves as the inputfor a prediction model transformation, shown at 706. The predictionmodel transformation 706 can also comprise a matrix multiplication. Whenusing a Kalman filter for generating position and orientationinformation, coordinate transformations performed in the Kalman filtergain calculation 702, the system model transformation 705, and theprediction model transformation 706, can be performed using the Eulerangle transformations described previously in the pointer embodiments orthrough the use of quaternions, as will be described later in thisdisclosure.

FIG. 15B shows the main elements of an extended Kalman filter configuredfor use in an inertial measurement unit (IMU). In FIG. 15B, there arethree signals that come from a gyroscope 711 and used to estimate state714, using a Kalman filter implementation similar to the generalizedKalman filter shown in FIG. 15A. These three signals are labeled ωx, ωy,and ωz in FIG. 15B and represent the rate of change of rotation of thegyroscope about three mutually perpendicular (x, y, and z axes) in aCartesian reference frame. The result of this first Kalman filter toestimate state 714, is a first state estimate Ŝi1. This first stateestimate Ŝi1 can be combined with accelerometer orientation signals ax,ay, and az from the accelerometer 712. These three accelerometerorientation signals ax, ay, and az are rotation signals about the samethree perpendicular axes as for the gyroscope. Combining ax, ay, and azwith Ŝi1 in the second Kalman filter, shown at 715, results in a secondstate estimate Ŝi2, in which pitch and/or roll have been corrected. Thissecond state estimate Ŝi2 can be combined with magnetometer orientationsignals mx, my, and mz from the magnetometer 713. These threemagnetometer orientation signals mx, my, and mz are rotation signalsabout the same three perpendicular axes as for the gyroscope and theaccelerometer. Combining mx, my, and mz with Ŝi2 in the third Kalmanfilter, shown at 716, results in an output state estimate Ŝi, in whichyaw has also been corrected. The resulting orientation state estimationcan be made significantly more accurate using this extended Kalmanfilter and three different orientation signal inputs 711, 712, and 713,than a Kalman filter using only one input, as was illustrated in FIG.15A.

FIG. 16 shows the main elements of a Madgwick filter used for an IMU.Referring to FIG. 16 the Madgwick filter also uses orientation inputsfrom a gyroscope 711, a magnetometer 713, and an accelerometer 712 togenerate the output state estimate Ŝi. The Madgwick filter calculatesthe orientation output Ŝi by numerically integrating the estimatedorientation rates. The orientation output Ŝi is computed based on therate of change of orientation measured by the gyroscope 711. Themagnitude of the gyroscope measurement error is removed in the directionof the estimated error. This estimated error is computed fromaccelerometer measurements 712 and magnetometer measurements 713 usingthe equations shown in FIG. 16.

Many Madgwick and Kalman filters use quaternions for coordinatetransformations, instead of the Euler angle transformations describedearlier in this disclosure. The Euler angle representation is sometimescalled a 3-2-1-rotation sequence of yaw (or heading), pitch, and roll. Aquaternion is an abstract means for representing a change or referenceframes as a four-dimensional vector to describe a three-dimensionalchange in orientation (or attitude). Although the Euler anglerepresentations of attitude, is quite intuitive as a three-dimensionalvector representing a three-dimensional attitude, it suffers from aninherent problem with its attitude representation. There are twoattitudes (90 degrees and 270 degrees) where a singularity occurs inwhich case the yaw and the roll would perform the same operations. This“gimbal lock” issue could be quite problematic in the control of a bodywhen dealing with angles close to the singularity points. A quaternionattitude representation can be used to provide a full description of anorientation without the need for handling the Euler angle singularitiescomputationally. There are several other advantages to using aquaternion attitude representation over Euler angles. One of theseadvantages is that the use of quaternions is that no trigonometricfunctions need to be solved, as is the case when using Euler angles.Trigonometric functions are computationally expensive to solve and canslow down the control look. Small angle approximations can be used fororientation changes of less than 5 degrees, but this can create otherissues. Quaternions require a single trigonometric calculation only whena non-zero yaw angle is included in the orientations. Otherwise,quaternion calculations are solely algebraic and computationallyinexpensive. It is also simpler to smoothly interpolate between twoorientations when using quaternions rather than Euler angles. However,converting a quaternion orientation into a usable pitch, roll, and yaworientation does require an extra algebraic transformation that is notneeded when using Euler angles.

Quaternions get around the “gimbal lock” problem by over defining anattitude representation through the addition of an additional degree notincluded when calculating Euler transformations. Like Euler angles,quaternions are based on Euler's concept that: “A rigid body orcoordinate reference frame can be brought from an arbitrary initialorientation to an arbitrary final orientation by a single rigid bodyrotation through a principal angle Φ about the principal axis; theprincipal axis is a judicious axis fixed in both initial and finalorientation.” This principle means that any arbitrary orientation couldbe represented with just a unit vector and an angle where the unitvector (r) defines the direction of rotation and the angle (θ) being theamount of rotation about the direction's axis to reach a final attitudefrom an initial one. The quaternion approach is based upon thisprinciple and can be derived from the principal axis (r) and principalangle (θ). A quaternion is a 4-dimensional hyper-complex number. Thethree complex parts, denoted as I, j, and k are interrelated by thefollowing equations:

i2=j2=k2=1

ij=k=ji

jk=i=kj

ki=j=ik

While different papers on the subject use different ordering of theterms, all quaternions fundamentally represent the same thing. Hence, aquaternion could be used to represent the orientation of a rigid body orcoordinate frame in three-dimensional space where an arbitrary rotationof a give frame B relative to a given frame A can be achieved through arotation (θ) around an axis (r) defined in frame A. We can useMadgwick's representation of the quaternion coordinate transformationsin embodiments of the sensor signal filter steps shown in FIG. 9 andFIG. 10. The following equation describes a quaternion-basedtransformation where _(B) ^(A){circumflex over (q)} is a quaternionrepresenting the coordinate transformation and _(B) ^(A){circumflex over(q)} is defined by the following equation:

^(A) _(B) {circumflex over (q)}=[q ₀ q ₁ q ₂ q ₃]=[cosθ/2r _(x)sinθ/2−r_(y)sinθ/2−r _(z)sinθ/2]

Where:

-   -   q₀ is the scalar component of the quaternion and q₁, q₂, and q₃        represent the vector components of the quaternion. Note that        quaternions can be written as a vector with 4-scalar components        (q₀, q_(1,) q₂, and q₃), with components q₁, q₂, and q₃        corresponding to the distance along the quaternion basis vectors        of i, j, and k. The q₀ component is considered the scalar part        of the quaternion and q₁, q₂, and q₃ together form the vector        part. Hence, another representation of the quaternion in the        complex domain is ^(A) _(B){circumflex over (q)}=q₀+q₁+q₂j+q₃k    -   r is the axis of rotation in frame A and r_(x), r_(y), and r_(z)        are the axis components also the x, y and z axes    -   θ is the angle of rotation around the axis r

It is often useful to represent a quaternion rotation with an orthogonalmatrix that, when post-multiplied by a column vector representing apoint ins pace, results in the point rotated by the quaternion. Thisorthogonal matrix R is shown in the following equation:

${\,_{B}^{A}R} = \begin{bmatrix}{{2\; q_{0}^{2}} - 1 + {2\; q_{1}^{2}}} & {2\left( {{q_{1}q_{2}} + {q_{0}q_{3}}} \right)} & {2\left( {{q_{1}q_{3}} - {q_{0}q_{2}}} \right)} \\{2\left( {{q_{1}q_{2}} - {q_{0}q_{3}}} \right)} & {{2\; q_{0}^{2}} - 1 + {2\; q_{2}^{2}}} & {2\left( {{q_{2}q_{3}} + {q_{0}q_{1}}} \right)} \\{2\left( {{q_{1}q_{3}} + {q_{0}q_{2}}} \right)} & {2\left( {{q_{2}q_{3}} - {q_{0}q_{1}}} \right)} & {{2\; q_{0}^{2}} - 1 + {2\; q_{3}^{2}}}\end{bmatrix}$

It is also useful to represent the Euler angles as a function of thequaternions. In an Euler angle representation of a transformation theZYX Euler angles Φ, θ, and ψ, describe the orientation of frame Bachieved by the sequential rotations from alignment with frame A, of ψaround the Z axis of Frame B, θ around the Y axis of Frame B, and Φaround the X axis of Frame B. Hence, the Euler angles can be calculatedby the following equations using the q₀, q₁, q₂, and q₃ components ofthe ^(A) _(B){circumflex over (q)} transformation quaternion:

φ = atan 2(2(q₂q₃ − q₀q₁), 2 q₀² − 1 + 2 q₃²)$\theta = {- {\arctan\left( \frac{2\left( {{q_{1}q_{3}} + {q_{0}q_{2}}} \right)}{\sqrt{1 - \left( {{2\; q_{1}q_{3}} + {2\; q_{0}q_{2}}} \right)^{2}}} \right)}}$ψ = atan 2(2(q₁q₂ − q₀q₃), 2 q₀² − 1 + 2 q₁²)

FIG. 17 shows that the wearable peripheral(s) and/or wearable hub(s) canalso be worn by domestic pets, such as a dog 801 and a cat 802, as wellas large farm animals, such as a cow 803 in a free roaming or containedenvironment to allow the monitoring of these animals. As with the sportsapplication a sensor hub or hubs and/or a beacon or beacons 505 collectdata from one or more wearable peripherals 504 on the same animal. Thisdiagram also illustrates that the wearable peripheral 504 does notnecessarily need to be worn by a person. It could also be worn by ananimal. The wearable peripheral could also be worn by a device, such asan unmanned vehicle, as will be shown with reference to FIG. 20, FIG.21, FIG. 22A, FIG. 22B, and FIG. 22C. The data can be communicated to alocal server and/or a cloud server using the transmission technologiessuch as cellular relay 507 and satellite relay 508 communicationdiscussed in other parts of this disclosure. Alternatively, thesatellites 508 could be used to provide Global Positioning System (GPS)information to sensors in the wearable peripherals 504 or other parts ofthe system. Embodiments such as those shown in FIG. 17 can enable themonitoring of animal activity, eating patterns, sleeping patterns,temperature and any abnormal behavior for the real-time detection of anyhealth problem. Temperature monitoring could also be used for preciseestrus period detection for a high insemination success rate.

FIG. 18 shows an application of the system and method for roboticscontrol. More specifically this application allows the remote control ofa robotic arm by natural movements of the arm and hand. FIG. 18 showsexamples of wearable peripherals including a wearable peripheral smartband 561 and a wearable peripheral smart bracelet 562 on differentpositions of the arm. The position of the bands with sensors is mappedto the articulated components of the robotic arm. A wearable peripheralsmart glove 563 can be combined with wearable peripheral smart rings 564to control the actual robotic arm extremity. Haptic feedback can beprovided through mechanical, piezoelectric, or pneumatic actuators inthe glove.

FIG. 19 shows an application of the system and method for as a wearablecontrol station for Robotics control including unmanned systems such asunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), andremotely operated vehicles (ROVs), such as those that will be shown inFIG. 20, FIG. 21, FIG. 22A, and FIG. 22B. Looking at FIG. 19 incombination with FIG. 20 and FIG. 21, the operator 570 controls amulti-axis manipulator 580 or a robotics vehicle (unmanned groundvehicle) 590 through a motion-sensing controller similar to a gamecontroller. The operator 570 can control a robot arm on the multi-axismanipulator 580 or a robotics vehicle 590 by using a smart glove 563,smart rings 564, smart bracelet 562, and/or smart band 561, alone ortogether. Visual feedback can be provided through the virtual realitygoggles 571 or see-through glasses that could receive video feed fromthe robot's camera and from a camera on the robot's arm or on the arm ofthe multi-axis manipulator. The operator's head could be enabled withmotion-sensing controller that allows the operator to control themovements of the robot's camera or the unmanned system's camera payload.The system's operation and communication can be controlled by a wearablecomputer 572 powered by a backpack battery. The system's communicationscapability is enabled by a wearable backpack long-range communicationssystem 573.

Further referring to the multi-axis remote manipulator (multi-axisrobotic arm) 580 of FIG. 20 in conjunction with FIG. 19, the wearablesmart glove 563 and wearable smart rings 564 can allow a natural controlof the arm holding extremity (claw) 581, by controlling X1 and X2. Thearmband 561 and bracelet 562 could allow the operator to control theremaining articulations of the arm by controlling the rotations of X3and X4.

Further referring to the unmanned ground vehicle 590 of FIG. 21 inconjunction with FIG. 19, the unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) 590 could becontrolled by the operator 570 using a wearable ground station andassociated wearable smart glove 563, wearable smart rings 564, wearablesmart band 561, and/or wearable smart bracelet 562, singly or incombination. For example, the operator 570 could control the movementsof the vehicle 590 in a natural way by moving a 3D motion-sensingcontroller 565 like a steering wheel. Visual feedback beyondline-of-sight or in crowded/hazardous environment can be providedthrough virtual reality goggles 571 with video feed from the maincamera. The operator's head and trunk movements control the directionand inclination of the vehicles main camera (H1, H2, H3 H4). Theoperator wearing a smart glove 563, smart rings 564, and/or smart bands,561 and/or 562, can control the robotic arm 580 in FIG. 21, of thevehicle 590 with natural movements of the operator's arm, wrist andfingers. Visual feedback is provided through the virtual reality goggles571 from a camera on the robotic arm 580.

FIG. 22A illustrates an unmanned aerial quadcopter and FIG. 22Billustrates an unmanned airplane. In the applications shown in FIG. 22Aand FIG. 22B, a matrix of “wearable peripherals 504 are affixed on orembedded into the different components of the UAV (unmanned aerialvehicle) airframe. These sensing instruments can send generated data toone or more sensing hubs or beacons also residing in the aircraft thatare enabled with long-range communications capability to act as relays.This relay or relays can communicate the sensed data to a local serveror a cloud server that could be airborne in another aircraft or groundbased. The local or cloud server can stores the data in a database andcan generate the required analysis on any of the parameters described inother parts of this disclosure and parameters related to the accurateoperation, performance and structural integrity of the aircraft. One ofthe main sensing instruments could be part of the navigation controlsystem of the UAV and would further provide directional and positionalinformation to the navigation and control CPU.

FIG. 22C illustrates a more conceptual view of the matrix of sensingcomponents (i.e. wearable peripherals) 504 that were shown in FIG. 22Aand FIG. 22B. This shows a matrix of “wearable” peripheral sensinginstruments 504 and a sensor hub 503 integrated together. The matrix ofsensing components 504 could comprise accelerometers, gyroscopes, andmagnetometers, the number and geometrical position of which is optimizedfor increased accuracy and operational redundancy. This specificembodiment of the sensing instruments 503 could increase their overallaccuracy making them more useful in application such as dead reckoningwhen GPS signal is unavailable and increasing operational availability,if subject to electromagnetic interferences.

Applications for the System and Method Disclosed Herein

The wireless motion sensor system or method could be used in sports,health care, veterinary sciences, industry, and the military. The systemor method can sense position, motion, gestures, acceleration, impact,and/or vibration. The sensed data can be quantified and used inperformance analysis and monitoring in sports, as well as health relatedapplications including but not limited to daily activity, posture, gaitpatterns assessment and sleep pattern monitoring, fall detection,rehabilitation, or motion imbalance evaluation including falls.

The system or method could be used with humans, pets, large animals suchas horses, cattle or flying species (birds of prey, sea birds) or marineanimals and mammals including but not limited to whales, dolphins,turtles, sharks, etc. The system or method could also be used withmechanical systems including but not limited to aeronautical systemssuch as planes, space shuttles and space exploration vehicles, orunmanned systems (satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmannedcombat aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles, remotely operatedvehicles, industrial robots, explosive ordinance disposal robots,nuclear maintenance robots, automotive vehicles, armored vehicles,tanks, submersible vehicles, and amphibious vehicles.

Referring now to one specific application, the system or method could beused in team sports for the continuous monitoring of athletes'performance parameters (speed, acceleration, scoring), activity andposition. Detection of head impacts parameters including (magnitude,frequency, direction, location and the generated linear and rotationalaccelerations can also be enabled. Additional sensor data that can bemonitored can include performance and gait pattern variation, sleeppatterns, eating patterns, and/or patterns of daily activity, followingan impact over predefined concussive thresholds or an accumulation ofimpacts below pre-defined concussive thresholds.

Referring to a second specific application, the sensor data can also beused to trigger haptic information to a remote device. The remote devicecould be a chair. The remote device could be a wearable device such as avest, a glove, a helmet, a headband, an armband, a pad, a cushion, orany other wearable device capable of being understood by anyone skilledin the art. The haptic information could include forces, impacts,mechanical resistances, and vibrations. When used in this configuration,the remote device could partially replicate sports field activityincluding impacts and performance records, for a better sports fanexperience.

Referring to a third specific application, the sensor data could be usedto detect normal and/or abnormal activity. For example, the system couldbe used for the monitoring of daily activity in senior citizensincluding the detection of activity level variations; gait patternsvariations, sleep pattern variations as well as the detection of falls.Pre-set thresholds could generate alert signals that are communicated toa remote device for emergencies. The same construct could be used todetect abnormal posture with office workers or athletes, and send theappropriate alert and posture suggestion. Abnormal activity in aconsumer, commercial or industrial and military settings could also bemonitored. One such application relates to an object with an integratedsensing instrument that would send an alarm signal if displaced, handledroughly or tampered with. Such an object could be a container with highvalue or strategic content or an electronic lock securing boxes,containers, truck or any similar cargo. This application could alsoextend to automotive applications where an embedded sensing instrumentwould detect high speed and reckless driving in personal or commercialvehicles such as delivery fleets or rental cars, in order to generatethe needed alert to parents, fleet operators or insurers. The sensinginstrument could be coupled with GPS technology.

Referring to a fourth specific application, the instrument could be wornby an animal. For example, the system could be used for the monitoringof pets or large animals. Items to be monitored could includetemperature and daily activity and variation thereof, as well as thevariation of gait patterns, sleeping and eating patterns, for thedetection of a possible health problem. Position tracking would alsoallow to find a lost pet /animal and the analysis of grouping andlocation patterns on a geographical area for optimal herding operations.

Referring to a fifth specific application, the system or method could beused in industrial or military settings for advanced situationalawareness with unmanned systems or preventive maintenance withmechanical equipment. Such an application involves the detection ofabnormal vibrations or movements in mechanical, hydraulic or pneumaticsystems with the possibility of providing haptic information to theremote device, which could be a handheld or wearable remove device.Applications include but are not limited to vibration monitoring inoperating machinery or the monitoring of a UAV behavior during flightwith haptic feedback relayed to a mechanical system that would renderthe actual behavior of the UAV, for realistic operation in differentweather and theater situations.

Referring to a sixth specific application, the system or method could beused in a commercial setting to prevent the theft of trucks and trailerswith a tamper-proof system. Such an application would require the use ofone or more peripheral sensing instrument with GPS positioning, motion,vibration and tilt sensing, as well as cellular modem connectivity andshort range transmission. A main hub sensing instrument is connected tothe peripheral sensing instruments through the short rangecommunication. It further integrates a GPS module, a motion sensor, arechargeable battery and long range communication in the form of asatellite modem or long range RF signal. When a Cellular signal isunavailable or the peripheral unit unable to operate or is physicallydisassociated from the vehicle, a short range signal from the peripheralsensing unit triggers the start-up and operation of the main hub and itslong range transmission capability to transmit the vehicles GPScoordinates. To optimize battery endurance, the main hub unit could beprogrammed to send GPS coordinate information when the vehicleapproaches pre-set latitude or is idle for a pre-set length of time.

Referring to a seventh specific application, the system comprising theinstrument sensing unit, communications capability and remote viewingand storage capability could be integrated in a negative feedback loopwith physiological data capture in the instrument including but notlimited to temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation,electroencephalograph, and/or vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) beingconnected to a brain stimulation technology for advanced training. As anexample, the wearable unit would measure the performance of athletes intraining and map it to various physiological states and brain patterns.The best performance in training would be mapped to the correspondingbody posture data, physiological data, brain wave, and VOR data, toreplicate the patterns during actual competition using mentalsuggestion, auto-hypnosis biofeedback techniques or the aid of brainstimulation device. The brain stimulation device could use cranialelectrotherapy stimulation, transcranial direct-current stimulationand/or similar brain entrainment technologies.

Referring to an eighth specific application, the system and method couldbe used for horse racing and/or dairy operation optimization. The systemor method could be used with any large animals including but not limitedto cattle, horses and camels, to improve their racing performance orfeeding habits. For example, the best time for a racing horse would bemapped to the physiological data and brain wave patterns in order to bereplicated during the race using different brain stimulation techniques.Dairy animals feeding and reproduction patterns could also be mapped totheir brain wave patterns, physiological data and other environmentaldata such as ambient temperature and light, for an optimization offeeding habits in view of optimal milk and meat production and/orreproduction schedule.

Referring to an ninth specific application, the system and method couldbe used by the military Special Forces for stealth insertion behindenemy lines, situation awareness and position tracking of the unit andeach element therein without radio communications and/or location incase of capture

Referring to a tenth specific application, the instrument in the systemand method can use MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) sensors todetect and quantify impacts. The magnitude of these impacts can bemapped to pre-established thresholds that have been shown to causeconcussions. This system and method could be used to measure the numberand severity of impacts that are above a generally recognized concussivethreshold. The system or method could also be used to measure thecumulative effect of multiple sub-concussive impacts. In one embodiment,the system and method described herein can augment impact magnitude andfrequency measurement with measurements of induced rotational and linearaccelerations that affect the cranial cavity. These inducedaccelerations are often generated by tangential impacts and wouldgenerate internal trauma inside the brain that is hard to detect evenwith the use of standard medical imaging equipment. To increase thelevel of certainty as to the presence of a concussion, embodiments ofthe present invention can continuously monitor performance and activityparameters such as speed, acceleration, total distance covered and fieldcoverage and their variation as well biomechanical and neuromotorindicators including but not limited to gait pattern variation,post-impact. The data generated by the different embodiments of thepresent invention could be augmented with measurements generated byother existing applications and inventions being developed in the field,such as subjective questionnaires or objective measurements ofnystagmus, in order to increase the confidence level as to the presenceof a concussion, prior to undertaking expensive medical imagingprocedures. Embodiments of the present invention can further be capableof developing personal assessments of concussion risk based on aplayer's physiological attributes (such as age, gender, height, weight)and previous impact history, as well as environmental parameters(temperature, humidity, altitude or barometric pressure) through bigdata analysis and self-evolving algorithms based on history. Anotherembodiment of the present invention could be used off-field to track theactivity and sleep patterns of players to assess post-impact symptomsduration for a quick and safe return to play approach. A similarembodiment of the present invention could be used for objectiveselection process based on long-term quantitative data generated by theprospective candidate athlete, allowing coaching team to have anobjective assessment of their training discipline and long-termperformance track.

Referring to an eleventh specific application of the system or method,the peripheral sensors could be embedded or retrofitted in the blades ofwind turbines to monitor the evolution of their condition with time aswell as specific operational parameters such as vibrations at differentorientation angles of the blade.

Referring to a twelfth application of the system or method, theperipheral sensors and sensors could be organized to map the motion andmovements of a human operator, allowing the control a remote humanoidrobot by movements of the individual's, head, trunk, arms, hands andlegs, to perform needed task in a hazardous or arduous environment.Examples of such activities could include active firefighting and rescueoperations, wounded extraction in military operations, and/or deep-seework for oil and gas exploration/extraction or space exploration/travel.An interesting implementation in sports could include humanoid teamscontrolled by the actual players, which would result in a majorreduction of sports injuries such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

The system or method could be used with the instrument being worn byhumans, by an animal, or being attached to an inanimate object such as avehicle or a shipping pallet. Continuous monitoring can facilitatedetection of any given variation in the parameters being monitored,after the occurrence of a given event. The event could be an impact,fall, spin/rotation or any internal malfunction stemming from viral,bacterial or mechanical imbalance in the system being monitored. Thesensors system is also able to detect the event parameters in order tocompare them to pre-established benchmarks.

In one embodiment and application, the instrument is wearable andcomprises one or more sensors that incorporate MEMS technology. The MEMStechnology sensor can be an accelerometer. The MEMS technology sensorcan be a gyroscope. The MEMS technology sensor can be a magnetometer.The MEMS technology could be used to measure position, orientation,velocity, rotation, linear acceleration, angular acceleration, or higherorder derivatives of position or rotation. The sensors in the instrumentcan comprise sensors that measure electromagnetic fields, radioactivity,temperature, pressure, altitude, position, pulse, heart rate, bloodoxygen saturation or chemical parameters. The system further comprisestransmitter low power instrument and wireless communications allowingthe sensors to send the information to a remote electronic device foranalysis, feedback and/or control.

In one embodiment, the system and method could be used to continuouslymonitor a variety of parameters related to motion, activity,performance, and/or neuro-motor status by measuring things such as gaitpatterns, speed, and/or acceleration. The system or method could alsodetect the occurrence of an event or series of events, such as impacts,falls, spins, or rotations and quantify the characteristics of an event,such as its magnitude, location, direction, frequency, and/or inducedlinear and rotational accelerations. Post-event, the system or methodcould detect any variation in the parameters being monitored.

The remote device that is part of the system or method could haveembedded intelligence and algorithms that compare the event parametersto pre-established benchmarks and to generate one or more impactseverity indicators to characterize the data that has been received thathelps to describe or categorize the event. This impact severityindicator or indicators or other characterization information could beused to generate an alert based on a comparison with threshold values.Embedded intelligence and algorithms in the remote device could alsocompare the post-event performance, operational activity and behavior topre-event levels and issues. This pre-event versus post-even comparisoncould be a direct comparison of pre and post data or it could be basedon key activity and performance indicators that characterize activity“health”. The remote device could also use an advanced algorithm thatcombines the impact severity scores with the activity and performancescores and to generate an event risk score, which could also be called a“key safety indicator.”

In one embodiment, the remote device could store the sensor data and/oranalysis information in a cloud database. The data in the cloud databasecould be compared and correlated with data related to circumstantial andenvironmental parameters including parameters related to the structureor physiology of the system being monitored. The correlated informationcan enable the optimization of scoring generation and thresholdcalibration based on the attributes of the system being monitored.

In the system or method is used in a sports application, the sensors inthe instrument could continuously monitor the performance and activityof the players on the field, as well as the parameters of any event orevents (such as an impact or series of impacts) affecting the player orplayers. The sensors in the instrument, in combination with the remotedevice could detect any variation in the performance and activitypatterns as well as any variation in gait patterns and other neuromotorparameters. The embedded intelligence on the remote device couldgenerate impact, activity, performance, and risk scores. In anembodiment used in a sports application, the system or method couldinclude algorithms that personalize the risk score or scores based onthe age, gender, height and weight of the player being measured. Thesystem or method could take environmental parameters such astemperature, altitude, humidity, and barometric pressure at the time ofthe event into account to develop the risk score.

In one embodiment, the system or method could be configured to generatea haptic feedback control to a wearable or embedded device. The devicereceiving the haptic feedback could be an article of clothing, ahead-worn unit, an arm-worn unit, a foot worn unit, a hand-worn unit, orany other wearable device. The actuators in the haptic feedback devicecould be actuated electro-mechanically, pneumatically, magnetically,piezoelectrically or using any other actuation technology capable ofbeing understood by anyone skilled in the art. The signals activatingthe actuators could be triggered by the event or by any other parameterrelated to an activity.

These specific arrangements and methods described herein are merelyillustrative of the principals of the present invention. Numerousmodifications in form and detail may be made by those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.Although this invention has been shown in relation to a particularembodiment, it should not be considered so limited. Rather, the presentinvention is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

1. [canceled]
 2. A motion analysis system comprising a wearablemeasurement unit, a signal relay unit, and a data analysis server,wherein: the wearable measurement unit comprises: a first orientationsensor comprising an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope; ameasurement unit processor responsive to the first orientation sensor;and a measurement unit short-range communication module configured fortransmitting a wireless signal responsive to the first orientationsensor wherein the transmitter communicates wirelessly using a radiofrequency technology selected from the group of ANT, Bluetooth, LoRA,Near Field Communication, Neul, Sigfox, and Z-Wave; the signal relayunit comprises: a relay unit short-range communication module configuredfor receiving the measurement unit short-range communication modulesignal; a relay unit sensor selected from the group of an accelerationsensor, an altitude sensor, a chemical sensor, an electromagneticsensor, a gyroscope, a human physiology sensor, a humidity sensor, animpact sensor, a magnetic sensor, a microphone, a position sensor, apressure sensor, a structural integrity sensor, a temperature sensor,and a vibration sensor; and a relay unit long-range communication moduleconfigured for transmitting a wireless signal using a radio frequencytechnology selected from the group of Bluetooth, cellular, LoRA, Neul,satellite, Sigfox, WiFi, Zigbee, and Z-Wave wherein the relay unitlong-range communication module signal is responsive to the measurementunit short-range communication module signal and the relay unit sensor;and the data analysis server comprises: a data analysis serverlong-range communication module configured for receiving the relay unitlong-range communication module signal; a data storage module responsiveto the relay unit long-range communication module signal; a dataanalysis module responsive to the relay unit long-range communicationmodule signal; and a graphical data presentation module responsive tothe data analysis module.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein: themeasurement unit is configured to be worn by a person; the firstorientation sensor is responsive to a linear acceleration of theperson's head and a rotational acceleration of the person's head; themeasurement unit immediately sends a signal if the acceleration of theperson's head detected by the wearable measurement unit comprises anacceleration event wherein an acceleration event comprises anacceleration of the person's head that exceeds a threshold value; thedata analysis module is responsive to the number of times anacceleration event has occurred; and the graphical data presentationmodule is configured for displaying the number of times an accelerationevent has occurred and the magnitude of each acceleration event.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3 wherein: the measurement unit comprises a coin cellbattery; the measurement unit processor is configured to change from apower-conserving sleep mode to an active mode in response to the firstorientation sensor; the measurement unit processor is configured forprocessing a first orientation sensor signal using a filter selectedfrom the group of a Kalman filter and a Madgwick filter; the systemfurther comprises a second orientation sensor wherein the secondorientation sensor is responsive to movement of the person's trunk; therelay unit long-range communication module signal is responsive to thesecond orientation sensor; the system further comprises a cloud serverwherein the cloud server is configured for receiving data from more thanone data analysis server.
 5. The system of claim 4 wherein: themeasurement unit further comprises a human physiology sensor, a humiditysensor, a position sensor, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, anda vibration sensor; the measurement unit processor is configured tochange from a power-conserving sleep mode to an active mode in responseto an acceleration of the person's head that is greater than aconcussion threshold value; the measurement unit processor is configuredfor processing a first orientation sensor signal using a Madgwickfilter; the measurement unit processor is configured for processing afirst orientation sensor signal using a quaternion equation wherein thequaternion is a 4-dimensional hyper-complex number that can berepresented by the following equation:^(A) _(B) {circumflex over (q)}=[q ₀ q ₁ q ₂ q ₃]=[cosθ/2−r _(x)sinθ/2−r_(y)sinθ/2−r _(z)sinθ/2] where: q₀ is the scalar component of thequaternion; q₁, q₂, and q₃ represent the vector components of thequaternion; r is the axis of rotation from a first reference frame to asecond reference frame and r_(x), r_(y), and r_(z) are the axiscomponents in the first reference frame, which can also be considered tobe the x, y and z axes of the first reference frame; and θ is the angleof rotation around the axis r when making the transformation from thefirst reference frame to the second reference frame; the measurementunit short-range communication module is configured for transmittingusing Bluetooth Low Energy technology; the relay unit comprises a globalpositioning sensor and a microphone; the relay unit long-rangecommunication module is configured for communicating using BluetoothClass 1 technology; and the data analysis server is configured forgenerating an alarm in response to an analysis of the acceleration eventand at least one of the person's physiologic sensed parameters selectedfrom the group of gait pattern, nystagmus, heart rate, speed,acceleration, and vestibulo-ocular reflex that was recorded prior to theacceleration event and after the event.
 6. The system of claim 2wherein: the wearable measurement unit is worn by an animal wherein theanimal is selected from the group of a person, a dog, a cat, and a cow;the wearable measurement unit is responsive to motion of the animal'shead; the measurement unit processor is configured for processing afirst orientation sensor signal using a quaternion equation wherein thequaternion is a 4-dimensional hyper-complex number that can berepresented by the following equation:^(A) _(B) {circumflex over (q)}=[q ₀ q ₁ q ₂ q ₃]=[cosθ/2−r _(x)sinθ/2−r_(y)sinθ/2r _(z)sinθ/2] where: q₀ is the scalar component of thequaternion; q₁, q₂, and q₃ represent the vector components of thequaternion; r is the axis of rotation from a first reference frame to asecond reference frame and r_(x), r_(y), and r_(z) are the axiscomponents in the first reference frame, which can also be considered tobe the x, y and z axes of the first reference frame; and θ is the angleof rotation around the axis r when making the transformation from thefirst reference frame to the second reference frame; the signal relayunit comprises a lithium polymer battery; and the system generates analarm if the motion of the animal's head detected by the wearablemeasurement unit exceeds a threshold value.
 7. The system of claim 2wherein: the measurement unit is configured to be worn by a person; thefirst orientation sensor is responsive to a linear acceleration of theperson's head and a rotational acceleration of the person's head; themeasurement unit processor is configured for processing a firstorientation sensor signal using a filter selected from the group of aKalman filter and a Madgwick filter; the measurement unit processor isconfigured to change from a power-conserving sleep mode to an activemode in response to an acceleration of the person's head that is greaterthan a concussion threshold value; the measurement unit immediatelysends a signal if the acceleration of the person's head detected by thewearable measurement unit comprises an acceleration event in which theacceleration of the person's head exceeds a concussion threshold value;and the system comprises a plurality of signal relay units; the outputof the data analysis server is responsive to the acceleration event ifat least one of the person's physiologic sensed parameters selected fromthe group of gait pattern, nystagmus, heart rate, speed, acceleration,and vestibulo-ocular reflex is different after the event when comparedto before the event; and the signal relay units are configured fortransmitting position information to the measurement unit; themeasurement unit is configured for receiving the position informationand computing a position; the system is configured for communicationusing a cellphone network.
 8. The system of claim 2 wherein: thewearable measurement unit is worn by a person; the wearable measurementunit is responsive to motion of the person's head; the system furthercomprises a second orientation sensor wherein the second orientationsensor is responsive to movement of a body part selected from the groupof the person's trunk, the person's hand, and the person's arm; therelay unit long-range communication module signal is responsive to thesecond orientation sensor; the system further comprises an unmannedvehicle; and the unmanned vehicle is responsive to the first orientationsensor and the second orientation sensor.
 9. The system of claim 2wherein: the wearable measurement unit is worn by a person; the firstorientation sensor is responsive to movement of a body part selectedfrom the group of the person's head, the person's trunk, the person'shand, and the person's arm; the signal relay unit is worn by the person;the system further comprises a second orientation sensor wherein thesecond orientation is a hand-held orientation sensor held by the person;the relay unit long-range communication module signal is responsive tothe second orientation sensor; the measurement unit short-rangecommunication module is configured for transmission using Zigbee; thesystem further comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle wherein the unmannedaerial vehicle further comprises a device from the group of a football,an airplane, and a helicopter; and the unmanned aerial vehicle isresponsive to the first orientation sensor and the second orientationsensor.
 10. The system of claim 2 wherein: the system further comprisesan unmanned vehicle; the wearable measurement unit is worn by theunmanned vehicle; the first orientation sensor is responsive to a motionof the unmanned vehicle; the measurement unit processor is configuredfor processing a first orientation sensor signal using a Kalman filter;the measurement unit processor is configured for processing a firstorientation sensor signal using a quaternion equation wherein thequaternion is a 4-dimensional hyper-complex number that can berepresented by the following equation:^(A) _(B) {circumflex over (q)}=[q ₀ q ₁ q ₂ q ₃]=[cosθ/2−r _(x)sinθ/2−r_(y)sinθ/2−r _(z)sinθ/2] where: q₀ is the scalar component of thequaternion; q₁, q₂, and q₃ represent the vector components of thequaternion; r is the axis of rotation from a first reference frame to asecond reference frame and r_(x), r_(y), and r_(z) are the axiscomponents in the first reference frame, which can also be considered tobe the x, y and z axes of the first reference frame; and θ is the angleof rotation around the axis r when making the transformation from thefirst reference frame to the second reference frame; the measurementunit processor is configured to change from a power-conserving sleepmode to an active mode if the motion exceeds a threshold value; themeasurement unit immediately sends a signal if the motion of theunmanned vehicle comprises a movement event wherein the movement eventcomprises a movement that exceeds the threshold value; and the output ofthe data analysis server is responsive to the movement event.
 11. Thesystem of claim 2 wherein: the first orientation sensor comprises anine-axis inertial measurement unit further comprising: at least twoaxes of accelerometer rotation input; three axes of accelerometer lineardisplacement input; three axes of gyroscope rotational input; and atleast one axis of magnetometer orientation input; the wearablemeasurement unit further comprises a controller; and the controller inthe wearable measurement unit is responsive to the data analysis server;the system further comprises an unmanned vehicle; and the wearablemeasurement unit is worn by the unmanned vehicle.
 12. The system ofclaim 2 wherein: the first orientation sensor comprises a nine-axisinertial measurement unit further comprising: at least two axes ofaccelerometer rotation input; three axes of accelerometer lineardisplacement input; three axes of gyroscope rotational input; and atleast one axis of magnetometer orientation input; the measurement unitfurther comprises a positioning module wherein the positioning module isresponsive to a signal selected from the group of the signal relay unitand a global positioning system satellite; and the relay unitshort-range communication module is responsive to the positioningmodule.
 13. The system of claim 2 wherein: the first orientation sensorcomprises a nine-axis inertial measurement unit further comprising: atleast two axes of accelerometer rotation input; three axes ofaccelerometer linear displacement input; and three axes of gyroscoperotational input; and at least one axis of magnetometer orientationinput; the system further comprises a second orientation sensorcomprising a nine-axis inertial measurement unit further comprising: atleast two axes of accelerometer rotation input; three axes ofaccelerometer linear displacement input; and three axes of gyroscoperotational input; and at least one axis of magnetometer orientationinput; and the measurement unit further comprises an additional sensorfrom the group of a physiology sensor, a humidity sensor, a positionsensor, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a chemical sensor, anda vibration sensor; the relay unit short-range communication module isresponsive to the second orientation sensor and the measurement unitadditional sensor.
 14. The system of claim 2 wherein: the measurementunit is configured to be worn by an animal wherein the animal isselected from the group of a dog, a cat, and a cow; the wearablemeasurement unit is responsive to motion of the animal; the firstorientation sensor comprises a nine-axis inertial measurement unitfurther comprising: at least two axes of accelerometer rotation input;three axes of accelerometer linear displacement input; and three axes ofgyroscope rotational input; at least one axis of magnetometerorientation input; the measurement unit further comprises an additionalsensor from the group of a physiology sensor, a humidity sensor, aposition sensor, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a chemicalsensor, and a vibration sensor; the relay unit short-range communicationmodule is responsive to the measurement unit sensor; and the system isconfigured for communication using a cellphone network.
 15. A wirelessmotion sensor system comprising a measurement unit, a signal relay unit,and a data analysis unit, wherein: the measurement unit comprises: afirst orientation sensor comprising an accelerometer and a gyroscope; ameasurement unit processor responsive to the first orientation sensor;and a short-range communication module configured for transmitting asignal responsive to the first orientation sensor wherein thecommunication module communicates using an Internet of Things technologyselected from the group of ANT, Bluetooth, IoT over a cellular network,Constrained Application Protocol, LoRA, Message Queue TelemetryTransport, Near Field Communication, Neul, Sigfox, Thread, and Z-Wave;the signal relay unit comprises: a short-range communication unitconfigured for receiving the signal from the measurement unit; a sensorselected from the group of a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, a position sensor, an altitude sensor, a chemicalsensor, a microphone, an impact sensor, a vibration sensor, anacceleration sensor, a gyroscope, a magnetic sensor, an electromagneticsensor, a structural integrity sensor, and a human physiology sensor;and a long-range communication module configured for transmitting awireless signal using a radio frequency technology; and the dataanalysis unit comprises: a long-range communication module configuredfor receiving the wireless signal; a data storage module; a dataanalysis module; and a graphical data presentation module.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15 wherein: the measurement unit is configured forattachment to an object selected from the group of an animal and adevice.
 17. The system of claim 16 wherein: the measurement unit isconfigured for attachment to an animal selected from the group of ahuman, a cow, a dog, and a cat.
 18. The system of claim 16 wherein: themeasurement unit is configured for attachment to a device selected fromthe group of a football, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and an unmannedground vehicle.
 19. The system of claim 15 wherein: the measurement unitfurther comprises: a second orientation sensor further comprising anaccelerometer; a third orientation sensor further comprising anaccelerometer; a fourth orientation sensor further comprising anaccelerometer; and a fifth orientation sensor further comprising anaccelerometer; the measurement unit processor is configured forprocessing a first orientation sensor signal, a second orientationsensor signal, a third orientation sensor signal, a fourth orientationsensor signal, and a fifth orientation sensor signal using a filterselected from the group of a Kalman filter and a Madgwick filter togenerate a measurement unit processor output; the measurement unitprocessor is configured for processing the first orientation sensorsignal, the second orientation sensor signal, the third orientationsensor signal, the fourth orientation sensor signal, and the fifthorientation sensor signal using a quaternion equation to generate themeasurement unit processor output wherein the quaternion is a4-dimensional hyper-complex number; the short range communication moduleis configured for transmitting a signal responsive to the measurementunit processor output.
 20. A method for wireless communication of sensedmotion information comprising the steps of: establishing an inertialmeasurement unit comprising: an orientation sensor comprising anaccelerometer; a processor responsive to the orientation sensor; and ashort range transmitter configured for transmitting and receiving awireless signal responsive to the orientation sensor wherein thetransmitter communicates wirelessly using a technology selected from thegroup of ANT, Bluetooth, LoRA, Near Field Communication, Neul, Sigfox,and Z-Wave; establishing a wireless signal relay unit comprising: ashort range receiver configured for communicating with the short rangetransmitter of the inertial measurement unit; a sensor selected from thegroup of a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, aposition sensor, an altitude sensor, a microphone, an impact sensor, avibration sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, a magneticsensor, an electromagnetic sensor, a structural integrity sensor, and ahuman physiology sensor; and a long range transmitter configured fortransmitting and receiving a wireless signal using a radio frequencytechnology; and establishing a data analysis server comprising: along-range transmitter configured for communicating with the long rangetransmitter/receiver of the relay unit; a data storage module; a dataanalysis module; and a graphical data presentation module.
 21. Themethod of claim 20 wherein: establishing an inertial measurement unitfurther comprises an orientation sensor comprising a magnetometer and agyroscope; the method further comprises the step of placing the inertialmeasurement unit on an object selected from the group of a person, adog, a cat, a cow, a horse, a sports ball, and an unmanned aerialvehicle; the method further comprises the step of using the inertialmeasurement unit processor to calculate a risk factor; the methodfurther comprises the step of determining whether to transmit a signalfrom the short range transmitter on a periodic basis or on an eventbasis in response to the risk factor; establishing the wireless signalrelay unit sensor further comprises a position sensor; the methodfurther comprises the step of determining a position of the object inresponse to the wireless signal relay unit sensor and the inertialmeasurement unit short range transmitter; and the method furthercomprises the step of displaying the object position on the graphicaldata presentation module.